diff --git a/src/cryfs-cli/Cli.cpp b/src/cryfs-cli/Cli.cpp
index f1df595e..c7fe0bad 100644
--- a/src/cryfs-cli/Cli.cpp
+++ b/src/cryfs-cli/Cli.cpp
@@ -316,10 +316,17 @@ namespace cryfs {
         }
     }
 
-    void Cli::_sanityChecks(const ProgramOptions &options) {
-        _checkDirAccessible(options.baseDir(), "base directory", ErrorCode::InaccessibleBaseDir);
-        _checkDirAccessible(options.mountDir(), "mount directory", ErrorCode::InaccessibleMountDir);
-        _checkMountdirDoesntContainBasedir(options);
+	void Cli::_sanityChecks(const ProgramOptions &options) {
+		_checkDirAccessible(bf::absolute(options.baseDir()), "base directory", ErrorCode::InaccessibleBaseDir);
+
+		if (!options.mountDirIsDriveLetter()) {
+			_checkDirAccessible(options.mountDir(), "mount directory", ErrorCode::InaccessibleMountDir);
+			_checkMountdirDoesntContainBasedir(options);
+		} else {
+			if (bf::exists(options.mountDir())) {
+				throw CryfsException("Drive " + options.mountDir().string() + " already exists.", ErrorCode::InaccessibleMountDir);
+			}
+		}
     }
 
     void Cli::_checkDirAccessible(const bf::path &dir, const std::string &name, ErrorCode errorCode) {
diff --git a/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/Parser.cpp b/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/Parser.cpp
index 89a6042f..54ebf1b4 100644
--- a/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/Parser.cpp
+++ b/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/Parser.cpp
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ ProgramOptions Parser::parse(const vector<string> &supportedCiphers) const {
     if (!vm.count("mount-dir")) {
         _showHelpAndExit("Please specify a mount directory.", ErrorCode::InvalidArguments);
     }
-    bf::path baseDir = bf::absolute(vm["base-dir"].as<string>());
-    bf::path mountDir = bf::absolute(vm["mount-dir"].as<string>());
+    bf::path baseDir = vm["base-dir"].as<string>();
+    bf::path mountDir = vm["mount-dir"].as<string>();
     optional<bf::path> configfile = none;
     if (vm.count("config")) {
         configfile = bf::absolute(vm["config"].as<string>());
diff --git a/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.cpp b/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.cpp
index 94ba6fc8..ccf25b87 100644
--- a/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.cpp
+++ b/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.cpp
@@ -15,9 +15,19 @@ ProgramOptions::ProgramOptions(bf::path baseDir, bf::path mountDir, optional<bf:
                                bool allowIntegrityViolations,
                                boost::optional<bool> missingBlockIsIntegrityViolation,
                                vector<string> fuseOptions)
-    :_baseDir(std::move(baseDir)), _mountDir(std::move(mountDir)), _configFile(std::move(configFile)), _foreground(foreground), _allowFilesystemUpgrade(allowFilesystemUpgrade), _allowReplacedFilesystem(allowReplacedFilesystem), _allowIntegrityViolations(allowIntegrityViolations),
-     _cipher(std::move(cipher)), _blocksizeBytes(std::move(blocksizeBytes)), _unmountAfterIdleMinutes(std::move(unmountAfterIdleMinutes)),
-     _missingBlockIsIntegrityViolation(std::move(missingBlockIsIntegrityViolation)), _logFile(std::move(logFile)), _fuseOptions(std::move(fuseOptions)) {
+    : _configFile(std::move(configFile)), _baseDir(bf::absolute(std::move(baseDir))), _mountDir(std::move(mountDir)),
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+	  _mountDirIsDriveLetter(_mountDir.has_root_path() && !_mountDir.has_root_directory() && !_mountDir.has_parent_path()),
+#else
+	  _mountDirIsDriveLetter(false),
+#endif
+	  _foreground(foreground),
+	  _allowFilesystemUpgrade(allowFilesystemUpgrade), _allowReplacedFilesystem(allowReplacedFilesystem), _allowIntegrityViolations(allowIntegrityViolations),
+      _cipher(std::move(cipher)), _blocksizeBytes(std::move(blocksizeBytes)), _unmountAfterIdleMinutes(std::move(unmountAfterIdleMinutes)),
+      _missingBlockIsIntegrityViolation(std::move(missingBlockIsIntegrityViolation)), _logFile(std::move(logFile)), _fuseOptions(std::move(fuseOptions)) {
+	if (!_mountDirIsDriveLetter) {
+		_mountDir = bf::absolute(std::move(_mountDir));
+	}
 }
 
 const bf::path &ProgramOptions::baseDir() const {
@@ -28,6 +38,10 @@ const bf::path &ProgramOptions::mountDir() const {
     return _mountDir;
 }
 
+bool ProgramOptions::mountDirIsDriveLetter() const {
+	return _mountDirIsDriveLetter;
+}
+
 const optional<bf::path> &ProgramOptions::configFile() const {
     return _configFile;
 }
diff --git a/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.h b/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.h
index f592db63..545fea0c 100644
--- a/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.h
+++ b/src/cryfs-cli/program_options/ProgramOptions.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ namespace cryfs {
 
             const boost::filesystem::path &baseDir() const;
             const boost::filesystem::path &mountDir() const;
+			bool mountDirIsDriveLetter() const;
             const boost::optional<boost::filesystem::path> &configFile() const;
             bool foreground() const;
             bool allowFilesystemUpgrade() const;
@@ -38,9 +39,10 @@ namespace cryfs {
             const std::vector<std::string> &fuseOptions() const;
 
         private:
-            boost::filesystem::path _baseDir;
-            boost::filesystem::path _mountDir;
-            boost::optional<boost::filesystem::path> _configFile;
+			boost::optional<boost::filesystem::path> _configFile;
+            boost::filesystem::path _baseDir; // this is always absolute
+            boost::filesystem::path _mountDir; // this is absolute iff !_mountDirIsDriveLetter
+			bool _mountDirIsDriveLetter;
             bool _foreground;
             bool _allowFilesystemUpgrade;
             bool _allowReplacedFilesystem;