diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5c1697e3c..35d25cb0a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+1.3.4+dev (2020-03-??)
+----------------------
+
+**Fixed**
+- Removed leading slash in notebook paths (#444)
+
+
 1.3.4 (2020-02-18)
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/jupytext/contentsmanager.py b/jupytext/contentsmanager.py
index 8936cfccd..cee9b9ae2 100644
--- a/jupytext/contentsmanager.py
+++ b/jupytext/contentsmanager.py
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ def save(self, model, path=''):
             if model['type'] != 'notebook':
                 return super(JupytextContentsManager, self).save(model, path)
 
+            path = path.strip('/')
             nbk = model['content']
             try:
                 metadata = nbk.get('metadata')
@@ -284,7 +285,9 @@ def save(self, model, path=''):
 
         def get(self, path, content=True, type=None, format=None, load_alternative_format=True):
             """ Takes a path for an entity and returns its model"""
-            os_path = self._get_os_path(path.strip('/'))
+            path = path.strip('/')
+
+            os_path = self._get_os_path(path)
             ext = os.path.splitext(path)[1]
 
             # Not a notebook?
diff --git a/tests/test_paired_paths.py b/tests/test_paired_paths.py
index 57b4ba6d9..a25ded97d 100644
--- a/tests/test_paired_paths.py
+++ b/tests/test_paired_paths.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def test_prefix_on_root_174():
     formats = long_form_multiple_formats(short_formats)
     assert short_form_multiple_formats(formats) == short_formats
 
-    expected_paths = ['/Untitled.ipynb', '/python/Untitled.py']
+    expected_paths = ['Untitled.ipynb', 'python/Untitled.py']
     for fmt, path in zip(formats, expected_paths):
         compare(paired_paths(path, fmt, formats), list(zip(expected_paths, formats)))