diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 6c8ececa..40de84c7 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import sys, os
 
-sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('..'))
+sys.path.append(os.path.abspath(os.pardir))
 
 from pelican import __version__, __major__
 
diff --git a/pelican/__init__.py b/pelican/__init__.py
index 0e3db788..2c67c5f3 100644
--- a/pelican/__init__.py
+++ b/pelican/__init__.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class Pelican(object):
         signals.initialized.send(self)
 
     def init_path(self):
-        if not any(p in sys.path for p in ['', '.']):
+        if not any(p in sys.path for p in ['', os.curdir]):
             logger.debug("Adding current directory to system path")
             sys.path.insert(0, '')
 
diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index 05761be6..38300914 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from pelican import signals
 from pelican.settings import _DEFAULT_CONFIG
 from pelican.utils import (slugify, truncate_html_words, memoized, strftime,
                            python_2_unicode_compatible, deprecated_attribute,
-                           split_all)
+                           path_to_url)
 
 # Import these so that they're avalaible when you import from pelican.contents.
 from pelican.urlwrappers import (URLWrapper, Author, Category, Tag)  # NOQA
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class Content(object):
         metadata = copy.copy(self.metadata)
         path = self.metadata.get('path', self.get_relative_source_path())
         metadata.update({
-            'path': '/'.join(split_all(path)),
+            'path': path_to_url(path),
             'slug': getattr(self, 'slug', ''),
             'lang': getattr(self, 'lang', 'en'),
             'date': getattr(self, 'date', datetime.now()),
diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index d4b2e231..43127099 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ class ArticlesGenerator(Generator):
     def generate_drafts(self, write):
         """Generate drafts pages."""
         for article in self.drafts:
-            write('drafts/%s.html' % article.slug,
+            write(os.path.join('drafts', '%s.html' % article.slug),
                 self.get_template(article.template), self.context,
                 article=article, category=article.category,
                 all_articles=self.articles)
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ class StaticGenerator(Generator):
                 f_rel = os.path.relpath(f, self.path)
                 # TODO remove this hardcoded 'static' subdirectory
                 dest = os.path.join('static', f_rel)
-                url = '/'.join(pelican.utils.split_all(dest))
+                url = pelican.utils.path_to_url(dest)
                 sc = Static(
                     content=None,
                     metadata={
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ class StaticGenerator(Generator):
 
     def generate_output(self, writer):
         self._copy_paths(self.settings['THEME_STATIC_PATHS'], self.theme,
-                         'theme', self.output_path, '.')
+                         'theme', self.output_path, os.curdir)
         # copy all Static files
         for sc in self.staticfiles:
             source_path = os.path.join(self.path, sc.source_path)
diff --git a/pelican/settings.py b/pelican/settings.py
index d8981a0f..25685d72 100644
--- a/pelican/settings.py
+++ b/pelican/settings.py
@@ -15,21 +15,22 @@ from os.path import isabs
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-DEFAULT_THEME = os.sep.join([os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)),
-                              "themes/notmyidea"])
-_DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'PATH': '.',
+DEFAULT_THEME = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)),
+                             'themes', 'notmyidea')
+_DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'PATH': os.curdir,
                    'ARTICLE_DIR': '',
                    'ARTICLE_EXCLUDES': ('pages',),
                    'PAGE_DIR': 'pages',
                    'PAGE_EXCLUDES': (),
                    'THEME': DEFAULT_THEME,
-                   'OUTPUT_PATH': 'output/',
+                   'OUTPUT_PATH': 'output',
                    'MARKUP': ('rst', 'md'),
                    'STATIC_PATHS': ['images', ],
                    'THEME_STATIC_PATHS': ['static', ],
-                   'FEED_ALL_ATOM': 'feeds/all.atom.xml',
-                   'CATEGORY_FEED_ATOM': 'feeds/%s.atom.xml',
-                   'TRANSLATION_FEED_ATOM': 'feeds/all-%s.atom.xml',
+                   'FEED_ALL_ATOM': os.path.join('feeds', 'all.atom.xml'),
+                   'CATEGORY_FEED_ATOM': os.path.join('feeds', '%s.atom.xml'),
+                   'TRANSLATION_FEED_ATOM': os.path.join(
+                       'feeds', 'all-%s.atom.xml'),
                    'FEED_MAX_ITEMS': '',
                    'SITEURL': '',
                    'SITENAME': 'A Pelican Blog',
@@ -49,17 +50,18 @@ _DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'PATH': '.',
                    'ARTICLE_LANG_URL': '{slug}-{lang}.html',
                    'ARTICLE_LANG_SAVE_AS': '{slug}-{lang}.html',
                    'PAGE_URL': 'pages/{slug}.html',
-                   'PAGE_SAVE_AS': 'pages/{slug}.html',
+                   'PAGE_SAVE_AS': os.path.join('pages', '{slug}.html'),
                    'PAGE_LANG_URL': 'pages/{slug}-{lang}.html',
-                   'PAGE_LANG_SAVE_AS': 'pages/{slug}-{lang}.html',
+                   'PAGE_LANG_SAVE_AS': os.path.join(
+                       'pages', '{slug}-{lang}.html'),
                    'STATIC_URL': '{path}',
                    'STATIC_SAVE_AS': '{path}',
                    'CATEGORY_URL': 'category/{slug}.html',
-                   'CATEGORY_SAVE_AS': 'category/{slug}.html',
+                   'CATEGORY_SAVE_AS': os.path.join('category', '{slug}.html'),
                    'TAG_URL': 'tag/{slug}.html',
-                   'TAG_SAVE_AS': 'tag/{slug}.html',
+                   'TAG_SAVE_AS': os.path.join('tag', '{slug}.html'),
                    'AUTHOR_URL': 'author/{slug}.html',
-                   'AUTHOR_SAVE_AS': 'author/{slug}.html',
+                   'AUTHOR_SAVE_AS': os.path.join('author', '{slug}.html'),
                    'YEAR_ARCHIVE_SAVE_AS': False,
                    'MONTH_ARCHIVE_SAVE_AS': False,
                    'DAY_ARCHIVE_SAVE_AS': False,
@@ -125,7 +127,7 @@ def get_settings_from_module(module=None, default_settings=_DEFAULT_CONFIG):
 def get_settings_from_file(path, default_settings=_DEFAULT_CONFIG):
     """Loads settings from a file path, returning a dict."""
 
-    name = os.path.basename(path).rpartition('.')[0]
+    name, ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(path))
     module = imp.load_source(name, path)
     return get_settings_from_module(module, default_settings=default_settings)
 
@@ -141,8 +143,10 @@ def configure_settings(settings):
 
     # lookup the theme in "pelican/themes" if the given one doesn't exist
     if not os.path.isdir(settings['THEME']):
-        theme_path = os.sep.join([os.path.dirname(
-            os.path.abspath(__file__)), "themes/%s" % settings['THEME']])
+        theme_path = os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)),
+            'themes',
+            settings['THEME'])
         if os.path.exists(theme_path):
             settings['THEME'] = theme_path
         else:
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_pelican.py b/pelican/tests/test_pelican.py
index 04fd7d2b..c8f1daf5 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/test_pelican.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_pelican.py
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ from pelican.settings import read_settings
 from pelican.tests.support import LoggedTestCase
 
 CURRENT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-SAMPLES_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.sep.join((CURRENT_DIR, "..", "..",
-                                            "samples")))
-OUTPUT_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.sep.join((CURRENT_DIR, "output")))
+SAMPLES_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(
+        CURRENT_DIR, os.pardir, os.pardir, 'samples'))
+OUTPUT_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(CURRENT_DIR, 'output'))
 
 INPUT_PATH = os.path.join(SAMPLES_PATH, "content")
 SAMPLE_CONFIG = os.path.join(SAMPLES_PATH, "pelican.conf.py")
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ SAMPLE_CONFIG = os.path.join(SAMPLES_PATH, "pelican.conf.py")
 
 def recursiveDiff(dcmp):
     diff = {
-            'diff_files': [os.sep.join((dcmp.right, f))
+            'diff_files': [os.path.join(dcmp.right, f)
                 for f in dcmp.diff_files],
-            'left_only': [os.sep.join((dcmp.right, f))
+            'left_only': [os.path.join(dcmp.right, f)
                 for f in dcmp.left_only],
-            'right_only': [os.sep.join((dcmp.right, f))
+            'right_only': [os.path.join(dcmp.right, f)
                 for f in dcmp.right_only],
             }
     for sub_dcmp in dcmp.subdirs.values():
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class TestPelican(LoggedTestCase):
             })
         pelican = Pelican(settings=settings)
         pelican.run()
-        dcmp = dircmp(self.temp_path, os.sep.join((OUTPUT_PATH, "basic")))
+        dcmp = dircmp(self.temp_path, os.path.join(OUTPUT_PATH, 'basic'))
         self.assertFilesEqual(recursiveDiff(dcmp))
         self.assertLogCountEqual(
             count=10,
@@ -90,5 +90,5 @@ class TestPelican(LoggedTestCase):
             })
         pelican = Pelican(settings=settings)
         pelican.run()
-        dcmp = dircmp(self.temp_path, os.sep.join((OUTPUT_PATH, "custom")))
+        dcmp = dircmp(self.temp_path, os.path.join(OUTPUT_PATH, 'custom'))
         self.assertFilesEqual(recursiveDiff(dcmp))
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_settings.py b/pelican/tests/test_settings.py
index d9bca2e5..5f1f4ede 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/test_settings.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_settings.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import unicode_literals, print_function
 import copy
+import os
 from os.path import dirname, abspath, join
 
 from pelican.settings import (read_settings, configure_settings,
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ class TestSettingsConfiguration(unittest.TestCase):
         settings = {
                 'SITEURL': 'http://blog.notmyidea.org/',
                 'LOCALE': '',
-                'PATH': '.',
+                'PATH': os.curdir,
                 'THEME': DEFAULT_THEME,
                 }
         configure_settings(settings)
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_utils.py b/pelican/tests/test_utils.py
index ab9ae226..78c90aeb 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -71,9 +71,10 @@ class TestUtils(LoggedTestCase):
 
     def test_get_relative_path(self):
 
-        samples = (('test/test.html', '..'),
-                   ('test/test/test.html', '../..'),
-                   ('test.html', '.'))
+        samples = ((os.path.join('test', 'test.html'), os.pardir),
+                   (os.path.join('test', 'test', 'test.html'),
+                    os.path.join(os.pardir, os.pardir)),
+                   ('test.html', os.curdir))
 
         for value, expected in samples:
             self.assertEquals(utils.get_relative_path(value), expected)
diff --git a/pelican/tools/pelican_quickstart.py b/pelican/tools/pelican_quickstart.py
index 6d4264d3..02aa62d3 100755
--- a/pelican/tools/pelican_quickstart.py
+++ b/pelican/tools/pelican_quickstart.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ _TEMPLATES_DIR = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)),
 CONF = {
     'pelican': 'pelican',
     'pelicanopts': '',
-    'basedir': '.',
+    'basedir': os.curdir,
     'ftp_host': 'localhost',
     'ftp_user': 'anonymous',
     'ftp_target_dir': '/',
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description="A kickstarter for Pelican",
         formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter)
-    parser.add_argument('-p', '--path', default=".",
+    parser.add_argument('-p', '--path', default=os.curdir,
             help="The path to generate the blog into")
     parser.add_argument('-t', '--title', metavar="title",
             help='Set the title of the website')
@@ -166,7 +166,8 @@ needed by Pelican.
 
     '''.format(v=__version__))
 
-    project = os.path.join(os.environ.get('VIRTUAL_ENV', '.'), '.project')
+    project = os.path.join(
+        os.environ.get('VIRTUAL_ENV', os.curdir), '.project')
     if os.path.isfile(project):
         CONF['basedir'] = open(project, 'r').read().rstrip("\n")
         print('Using project associated with current virtual environment.'
diff --git a/pelican/tools/templates/publishconf.py.in b/pelican/tools/templates/publishconf.py.in
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 7115a6a1..8fd2a4f7
--- a/pelican/tools/templates/publishconf.py.in
+++ b/pelican/tools/templates/publishconf.py.in
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@
 # This file is only used if you use `make publish` or
 # explicitly specify it as your config file.
 
+import os
 import sys
-sys.path.append('.')
+sys.path.append(os.curdir)
 from pelicanconf import *
 
 SITEURL = '$siteurl'
diff --git a/pelican/utils.py b/pelican/utils.py
index 4e1c8156..417e5b15 100644
--- a/pelican/utils.py
+++ b/pelican/utils.py
@@ -304,11 +304,20 @@ def clean_output_dir(path):
 
 def get_relative_path(path):
     """Return the relative path from the given path to the root path."""
-    nslashes = path.count('/')
-    if nslashes == 0:
-        return '.'
+    components = split_all(path)
+    if len(components) <= 1:
+        return os.curdir
     else:
-        return '/'.join(['..'] * nslashes)
+        parents = [os.pardir] * (len(components) - 1)
+        return os.path.join(*parents)
+
+
+def path_to_url(path):
+    """Return the URL corresponding to a given path."""
+    if os.sep == '/':
+        return path
+    else:
+        '/'.join(split_all(path))
 
 
 def truncate_html_words(s, num, end_text='...'):
@@ -429,7 +438,7 @@ def files_changed(path, extensions, ignores=[]):
     def file_times(path):
         """Return the last time files have been modified"""
         for root, dirs, files in os.walk(path):
-            dirs[:] = [x for x in dirs if x[0] != '.']
+            dirs[:] = [x for x in dirs if x[0] != os.curdir]
             for f in files:
                 if any(f.endswith(ext) for ext in extensions) \
                         and not any(fnmatch.fnmatch(f, ignore)
diff --git a/pelican/writers.py b/pelican/writers.py
index 8e611556..ea93dae6 100644
--- a/pelican/writers.py
+++ b/pelican/writers.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from codecs import open
 from feedgenerator import Atom1Feed, Rss201rev2Feed
 from jinja2 import Markup
 from pelican.paginator import Paginator
-from pelican.utils import get_relative_path, set_date_tzinfo
+from pelican.utils import get_relative_path, path_to_url, set_date_tzinfo
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ class Writer(object):
         old_locale = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL)
         locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, str('C'))
         try:
-            self.site_url = context.get('SITEURL', get_relative_path(path))
+            self.site_url = context.get(
+                'SITEURL', path_to_url(get_relative_path(path)))
+
             self.feed_domain = context.get('FEED_DOMAIN')
             self.feed_url = '{}/{}'.format(self.feed_domain, path)
 
@@ -125,9 +127,9 @@ class Writer(object):
 
         localcontext = context.copy()
         if relative_urls:
-            relative_path = get_relative_path(name)
-            context['localsiteurl'] = relative_path
-            localcontext['SITEURL'] = relative_path
+            relative_url = path_to_url(get_relative_path(name))
+            context['localsiteurl'] = relative_url
+            localcontext['SITEURL'] = relative_url
 
         localcontext['output_file'] = name
         localcontext.update(kwargs)