diff --git a/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs b/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs
index fed946577..1764b8e84 100644
--- a/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs
+++ b/src/uu/mktemp/src/mktemp.rs
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ impl Params {
             .to_string();
 
         // Check that the prefix is valid.
-        let prefix_of_template = Path::new(prefix_from_template).display().to_string();
+        let prefix_of_template = Path::new(prefix_from_template).to_string_lossy();
 
         if options.treat_as_template && prefix_of_template.contains(MAIN_SEPARATOR) {
             return Err(MkTempError::PrefixContainsDirSeparator(options.template));