diff --git a/unix/syscall_linux.go b/unix/syscall_linux.go
index f5915e23..5f28f8fd 100644
--- a/unix/syscall_linux.go
+++ b/unix/syscall_linux.go
@@ -250,6 +250,13 @@ func Getwd() (wd string, err error) {
 	if n < 1 || n > len(buf) || buf[n-1] != 0 {
 		return "", EINVAL
 	}
+	// In some cases, Linux can return a path that starts with the
+	// "(unreachable)" prefix, which can potentially be a valid relative
+	// path. To work around that, return ENOENT if path is not absolute.
+	if buf[0] != '/' {
+		return "", ENOENT
+	}
+
 	return string(buf[0 : n-1]), nil
 }