diff --git a/Database/Export.hs b/Database/Export.hs
index 1491d0df5f..71ff67dcd7 100644
--- a/Database/Export.hs
+++ b/Database/Export.hs
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ addExportedLocation :: ExportHandle -> Key -> ExportLocation -> IO ()
 addExportedLocation h k el = queueDb h $ do
 	void $ insertUnique $ Exported k ef
 	let edirs = map
-		(\ed -> ExportedDirectory (toSFilePath (fromRawFilePath (fromExportDirectory ed))) ef)
+		(\ed -> ExportedDirectory (SFilePath (fromExportDirectory ed)) ef)
 		(exportDirectories el)
 	putMany edirs
   where
diff --git a/Database/Keys/SQL.hs b/Database/Keys/SQL.hs
index 7950eb3074..3846aaf625 100644
--- a/Database/Keys/SQL.hs
+++ b/Database/Keys/SQL.hs
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ addAssociatedFile k f = queueDb $ do
 	deleteWhere [AssociatedFile ==. af, AssociatedKey !=. k]
 	void $ insertUnique $ Associated k af
   where
-	af = toSFilePath (fromRawFilePath (getTopFilePath f))
+	af = SFilePath (getTopFilePath f)
 
 -- Does not remove any old association for a file, but less expensive
 -- than addAssociatedFile. Calling dropAllAssociatedFiles first and then
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ addAssociatedFile k f = queueDb $ do
 addAssociatedFileFast :: Key -> TopFilePath -> WriteHandle -> IO ()
 addAssociatedFileFast k f = queueDb $ void $ insertUnique $ Associated k af
   where
-	af = toSFilePath (fromRawFilePath (getTopFilePath f))
+	af = SFilePath (getTopFilePath f)
 
 dropAllAssociatedFiles :: WriteHandle -> IO ()
 dropAllAssociatedFiles = queueDb $
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ dropAllAssociatedFiles = queueDb $
 getAssociatedFiles :: Key -> ReadHandle -> IO [TopFilePath]
 getAssociatedFiles k = readDb $ do
 	l <- selectList [AssociatedKey ==. k] []
-	return $ map (asTopFilePath . toRawFilePath . associatedFile . entityVal) l
+	return $ map (asTopFilePath . (\(SFilePath f) -> f) . associatedFile . entityVal) l
 
 {- Gets any keys that are on record as having a particular associated file.
  - (Should be one or none but the database doesn't enforce that.) -}
@@ -114,13 +114,13 @@ getAssociatedKey f = readDb $ do
 	l <- selectList [AssociatedFile ==. af] []
 	return $ map (associatedKey . entityVal) l
   where
-	af = toSFilePath (fromRawFilePath (getTopFilePath f))
+	af = SFilePath (getTopFilePath f)
 
 removeAssociatedFile :: Key -> TopFilePath -> WriteHandle -> IO ()
 removeAssociatedFile k f = queueDb $
 	deleteWhere [AssociatedKey ==. k, AssociatedFile ==. af]
   where
-	af = toSFilePath (fromRawFilePath (getTopFilePath f))
+	af = SFilePath (getTopFilePath f)
 
 addInodeCaches :: Key -> [InodeCache] -> WriteHandle -> IO ()
 addInodeCaches k is = queueDb $
diff --git a/Database/Types.hs b/Database/Types.hs
index 9f41ebc551..ac6aad2748 100644
--- a/Database/Types.hs
+++ b/Database/Types.hs
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import Foreign.C.Types
 import Key
 import Utility.InodeCache
 import Utility.FileSize
-import Utility.FileSystemEncoding
 import Git.Types
 import Types.UUID
 import Types.Import
@@ -79,16 +78,10 @@ instance PersistField ContentIdentifier where
 instance PersistFieldSql ContentIdentifier where
 	sqlType _ = SqlBlob
 
--- A serialized FilePath. Stored as a ByteString to avoid encoding problems.
+-- A serialized RawFilePath.
 newtype SFilePath = SFilePath S.ByteString
 	deriving (Eq, Show)
 
-toSFilePath :: FilePath -> SFilePath
-toSFilePath = SFilePath . encodeBS
-
-fromSFilePath :: SFilePath -> FilePath
-fromSFilePath (SFilePath b) = decodeBS b
-
 instance PersistField  SFilePath where
 	toPersistValue (SFilePath b) = toPersistValue b
 	fromPersistValue v = SFilePath <$> fromPersistValue v
diff --git a/Upgrade/V7.hs b/Upgrade/V7.hs
index 7b53794ddf..600f91e206 100644
--- a/Upgrade/V7.hs
+++ b/Upgrade/V7.hs
@@ -95,14 +95,14 @@ removeOldDb getdb = do
 populateKeysDb :: Annex ()
 populateKeysDb = do
 	top <- fromRepo Git.repoPath
-	(l, cleanup) <- inRepo $ LsFiles.inodeCaches [toRawFilePath top]
+	(l, cleanup) <- inRepo $ LsFiles.inodeCaches [top]
 	forM_ l $ \case
 		(_f, Nothing) -> giveup "Unable to parse git ls-files --debug output while upgrading git-annex sqlite databases."
 		(f, Just ic) -> unlessM (liftIO $ isSymbolicLink <$> getSymbolicLinkStatus f) $ do
 			catKeyFile (toRawFilePath f) >>= \case
 				Nothing -> noop
 				Just k -> do
-					topf <- inRepo $ toTopFilePath f
+					topf <- inRepo $ toTopFilePath $ toRawFilePath f
 					Database.Keys.runWriter $ \h -> liftIO $ do
 						Database.Keys.SQL.addAssociatedFileFast k topf h
 						Database.Keys.SQL.addInodeCaches k [ic] h