diff --git a/src/Terminal/commands/cat.ts b/src/Terminal/commands/cat.ts
index a0234e44b..22453571e 100644
--- a/src/Terminal/commands/cat.ts
+++ b/src/Terminal/commands/cat.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ export function cat(
     terminal.error("Incorrect usage of cat command. Usage: cat [file]");
     return;
   }
-  const filename = terminal.getFilepath(args[0] + "");
+  const relative_filename = args[0] + "";
+  const filename = terminal.getFilepath(relative_filename);
   if (!filename.endsWith(".msg") && !filename.endsWith(".lit") && !filename.endsWith(".txt")) {
     terminal.error(
       "Only .msg, .txt, and .lit files are viewable with cat (filename must end with .msg, .txt, or .lit)",
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ export function cat(
       }
     }
   } else if (filename.endsWith(".txt")) {
-    const txt = terminal.getTextFile(player, filename);
+    const txt = terminal.getTextFile(player, relative_filename);
     if (txt != null) {
       txt.show();
       return;
diff --git a/src/TextFile.ts b/src/TextFile.ts
index 42ae4e500..cf77058c3 100644
--- a/src/TextFile.ts
+++ b/src/TextFile.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { dialogBoxCreate } from "./ui/React/DialogBox";
 import { BaseServer } from "./Server/BaseServer";
 import { Generic_fromJSON, Generic_toJSON, Reviver } from "./utils/JSONReviver";
+import { removeLeadingSlash, isInRootDirectory } from "./Terminal/DirectoryHelpers"
 
 /**
  * Represents a plain text file that is typically stored on a server.
@@ -101,7 +102,11 @@ Reviver.constructors.TextFile = TextFile;
  */
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/explicit-module-boundary-types
 export function getTextFile(fn: string, server: BaseServer): TextFile | null {
-  const filename: string = !fn.endsWith(".txt") ? `${fn}.txt` : fn;
+  let filename: string = !fn.endsWith(".txt") ? `${fn}.txt` : fn;
+
+  if (isInRootDirectory(filename)) {
+    filename = removeLeadingSlash(filename);
+  }
 
   for (const file of server.textFiles as TextFile[]) {
     if (file.fn === filename) {