diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index c017e238409..e5c990ab494 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -206,8 +206,6 @@ bool CmdLineParser::fillSettingsFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
     assert(!(!pathnamesRef.empty() && !fileSettingsRef.empty()));
 
     if (!fileSettingsRef.empty()) {
-        // TODO: de-duplicate
-
         std::list<FileSettings> fileSettings;
         if (!mSettings.fileFilters.empty()) {
             // filter only for the selected filenames from all project files
@@ -225,6 +223,8 @@ bool CmdLineParser::fillSettingsFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             fileSettings = fileSettingsRef;
         }
 
+        // TODO: de-duplicate
+
         mFileSettings.clear();
 
         frontend::applyLang(fileSettings, mSettings, mEnforcedLang);
@@ -265,19 +265,6 @@ bool CmdLineParser::fillSettingsFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             return false;
         }
 
-        // de-duplicate files
-        {
-            auto it = filesResolved.begin();
-            while (it != filesResolved.end()) {
-                const std::string& absname = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(it->spath());
-                // TODO: log if duplicated files were dropped
-                filesResolved.erase(std::remove_if(std::next(it), filesResolved.end(), [&](const FileWithDetails& entry) {
-                    return Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(entry.spath()) == absname;
-                }), filesResolved.end());
-                ++it;
-            }
-        }
-
         std::list<FileWithDetails> files;
         if (!mSettings.fileFilters.empty()) {
             files = filterFiles(mSettings.fileFilters, filesResolved);
@@ -291,6 +278,19 @@ bool CmdLineParser::fillSettingsFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             files = std::move(filesResolved);
         }
 
+        // de-duplicate files
+        {
+            auto it = files.begin();
+            while (it != files.end()) {
+                const std::string& absname = it->abspath();
+                // TODO: log if duplicated files were dropped
+                files.erase(std::remove_if(std::next(it), files.end(), [&](const FileWithDetails& entry) {
+                    return entry.abspath() == absname;
+                }), files.end());
+                ++it;
+            }
+        }
+
         frontend::applyLang(files, mSettings, mEnforcedLang);
 
         // sort the markup last
diff --git a/lib/filesettings.h b/lib/filesettings.h
index b51f092d6b4..aaa2f28779a 100644
--- a/lib/filesettings.h
+++ b/lib/filesettings.h
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ class FileWithDetails
     {
         mPath = std::move(path);
         mPathSimplified = Path::simplifyPath(mPath);
+        mPathAbsolute.clear();
     }
 
     const std::string& path() const
@@ -62,6 +63,14 @@ class FileWithDetails
         return mPathSimplified;
     }
 
+    const std::string& abspath() const
+    {
+        // use delayed resolution as it will fail for files which do not exist
+        if (mPathAbsolute.empty())
+            mPathAbsolute = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(mPath);
+        return mPathAbsolute;
+    }
+
     std::size_t size() const
     {
         return mSize;
@@ -89,6 +98,7 @@ class FileWithDetails
 private:
     std::string mPath;
     std::string mPathSimplified;
+    mutable std::string mPathAbsolute;
     Standards::Language mLang = Standards::Language::None;
     std::size_t mSize;
     std::size_t mFsFileId{0};