diff --git a/distutils/ccompiler.py b/distutils/ccompiler.py
index 3cf5761c..8c9b1d48 100644
--- a/distutils/ccompiler.py
+++ b/distutils/ccompiler.py
@@ -925,8 +925,7 @@ def object_filenames(self, source_filenames, strip_dir=0, output_dir=''):
         obj_names = []
         for src_name in source_filenames:
             base, ext = os.path.splitext(src_name)
-            base = os.path.splitdrive(base)[1]  # Chop off the drive
-            base = base[os.path.isabs(base) :]  # If abs, chop off leading /
+            base = self._mangle_base(base)
             if ext not in self.src_extensions:
                 raise UnknownFileError(
                     "unknown file type '{}' (from '{}')".format(ext, src_name)
@@ -936,6 +935,16 @@ def object_filenames(self, source_filenames, strip_dir=0, output_dir=''):
             obj_names.append(os.path.join(output_dir, base + self.obj_extension))
         return obj_names
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _mangle_base(base):
+        """
+        For unknown reasons, absolute paths are mangled.
+        """
+        # Chop off the drive
+        no_drive = os.path.splitdrive(base)[1]
+        # If abs, chop off leading /
+        return no_drive[os.path.isabs(no_drive) :]
+
     def shared_object_filename(self, basename, strip_dir=0, output_dir=''):
         assert output_dir is not None
         if strip_dir: