diff --git a/src/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRule.php b/src/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRule.php
index f2a9af9989b..8ccf92e3dfc 100644
--- a/src/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRule.php
+++ b/src/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRule.php
@@ -77,8 +77,7 @@ private function doesFileExist(string $path, Scope $scope): bool
 	private function doesFileExistForDirectory(string $path, string $workingDirectory): bool
 	{
 		$fileHelper = new FileHelper($workingDirectory);
-		$normalisedPath = $fileHelper->normalizePath($path);
-		$absolutePath = $fileHelper->absolutizePath($normalisedPath);
+		$absolutePath = $fileHelper->absolutizePath($path);
 
 		return is_file($absolutePath);
 	}
diff --git a/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRuleTest.php b/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRuleTest.php
index ee96f404662..6bd3e1dfd72 100644
--- a/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRuleTest.php
+++ b/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/RequireFileExistsRuleTest.php
@@ -116,4 +116,9 @@ public function testRelativePathWithSameWorkingDirectory(): void
 		$this->analyse([__DIR__ . '/data/require-file-relative-path.php'], []);
 	}
 
+	public function testBug11738(): void
+	{
+		$this->analyse([__DIR__ . '/data/bug-11738/bug-11738.php'], []);
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/data/bug-11738-included.php b/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/data/bug-11738-included.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a4abe2dafcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/data/bug-11738-included.php
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<?php
+
diff --git a/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/data/bug-11738/bug-11738.php b/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/data/bug-11738/bug-11738.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0b15ba27e2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PHPStan/Rules/Keywords/data/bug-11738/bug-11738.php
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<?php
+
+require_once('../bug-11738-included.php');