1diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
  2index 4f5081bf..57354e61 100644
  3--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
  4+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
  5@@ -32,7 +32,13 @@
  6     keyboard::{KeyCode, KeyModifiers},
  7     Document, DocumentId, Editor, Theme, View, ViewId,
  8 };
  9-use std::{mem::take, num::NonZeroUsize, ops, path::PathBuf, rc::Rc};
 10+use std::{
 11+    mem::take,
 12+    num::NonZeroUsize,
 13+    ops,
 14+    path::{PathBuf, MAIN_SEPARATOR, MAIN_SEPARATOR_STR},
 15+    rc::Rc,
 16+};
 17 
 18 use tui::{buffer::Buffer as Surface, text::Span};
 19 
 20@@ -686,7 +692,6 @@ pub fn tabstop_highlights(doc: &Document, theme: &Theme) -> Option<OverlayHighli
 21 
 22     /// Render bufferline at the top
 23     pub fn render_bufferline(&mut self, editor: &Editor, viewport: Rect, surface: &mut Surface) {
 24-        let scratch = PathBuf::from(SCRATCH_BUFFER_NAME); // default filename to use for scratch buffer
 25         surface.clear_with(
 26             viewport,
 27             editor
 28@@ -711,13 +716,7 @@ pub fn render_bufferline(&mut self, editor: &Editor, viewport: Rect, surface: &m
 29         self.bufferline_info.clear();
 30 
 31         for doc in editor.documents() {
 32-            let fname = doc
 33-                .path()
 34-                .unwrap_or(&scratch)
 35-                .file_name()
 36-                .unwrap_or_default()
 37-                .to_str()
 38-                .unwrap_or_default();
 39+            let fname = Self::make_document_name(doc, editor);
 40 
 41             let style = if current_doc == doc.id() {
 42                 bufferline_active
 43@@ -873,6 +872,63 @@ fn draw_element(
 44         }
 45     }
 46 
 47+    fn make_document_name(doc: &Document, editor: &Editor) -> String {
 48+        let scratch = PathBuf::from(SCRATCH_BUFFER_NAME); // default filename to use for scratch buffer
 49+
 50+        let paths: Vec<String> = editor
 51+            .documents()
 52+            .map(|d| {
 53+                d.path()
 54+                    .unwrap_or(&scratch)
 55+                    .to_str()
 56+                    .unwrap_or_default()
 57+                    .to_string()
 58+            })
 59+            .collect();
 60+
 61+        let components: Vec<Vec<String>> = paths
 62+            .iter()
 63+            .map(|p| p.split(MAIN_SEPARATOR).map(String::from).collect())
 64+            .collect();
 65+
 66+        let doc_path = doc
 67+            .path()
 68+            .unwrap_or(&scratch)
 69+            .to_str()
 70+            .unwrap_or_default()
 71+            .to_string();
 72+
 73+        let doc_index = paths.iter().position(|p| p == &doc_path).unwrap();
 74+        let doc_components_len = components[doc_index].len();
 75+
 76+        let mut k = 1;
 77+
 78+        loop {
 79+            let start = doc_components_len.saturating_sub(k);
 80+            let curr_doc: Vec<&str> = components[doc_index][start..]
 81+                .iter()
 82+                .map(|s| s.as_str())
 83+                .collect();
 84+
 85+            let count = components
 86+                .iter()
 87+                .enumerate()
 88+                .filter(|&(index, _)| index != doc_index)
 89+                .filter(|&(_, parts)| {
 90+                    let len = parts.len();
 91+                    let start = len.saturating_sub(k);
 92+                    parts[start..] == curr_doc
 93+                })
 94+                .count();
 95+
 96+            if count == 0 {
 97+                return curr_doc.join(MAIN_SEPARATOR_STR);
 98+            }
 99+
100+            k += 1;
101+        }
102+    }
103+
104     pub fn render_gutter<'d>(
105         editor: &'d Editor,
106         doc: &'d Document,