diff --git a/lib/package.gi b/lib/package.gi
index 0790fb0f46..6ee47a36cb 100644
--- a/lib/package.gi
+++ b/lib/package.gi
@@ -236,6 +236,8 @@ BindGlobal( "AddPackageInfos", function( files, pkgdir, ignore )
               " (user preference PackagesToIgnore)" ), "GAP" );
         else
           record.InstallationPath:= Filename( [ pkgdir ], file[2] );
+          # normalize to include trailing "/"
+          record.InstallationPath:= Filename( [ Directory( record.InstallationPath ) ], "" );
           if not IsBound( record.PackageDoc ) then
             record.PackageDoc:= [];
           elif IsRecord( record.PackageDoc ) then
@@ -1746,7 +1748,8 @@ InstallGlobalFunction( SetPackagePath, function( pkgname, pkgpath )
     pkgname:= LowercaseString( pkgname );
     NormalizeWhitespace( pkgname );
     if IsBound( GAPInfo.PackagesLoaded.( pkgname ) ) then
-      if GAPInfo.PackagesLoaded.( pkgname )[1] = pkgpath then
+      # compare using `Directory` to expand "~" and add trailing "/"
+      if Directory( GAPInfo.PackagesLoaded.( pkgname )[1] ) = Directory( pkgpath ) then
         return;
       fi;
       Error( "another version of package ", pkgname, " is already loaded" );
diff --git a/tst/testinstall/package.tst b/tst/testinstall/package.tst
index 40efbab9b0..8b10600afd 100644
--- a/tst/testinstall/package.tst
+++ b/tst/testinstall/package.tst
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#@local entry,equ,pair,sml,oldTermEncoding,pkginfo,info,mockpkgpath,p,n
+#@local entry,equ,pair,sml,oldTermEncoding,pkginfo,info,tmp_dir,mockpkgpath,old_warning_level,p,n
 gap> START_TEST("package.tst");
 
 # CompareVersionNumbers( <supplied>, <required>[, \"equal\"] )
@@ -418,8 +418,17 @@ false
 gap> IsPackageLoaded("mockpkg", ">=2.0");
 false
 
-#
-gap> mockpkgpath := DirectoriesLibrary("tst/mockpkg")[1];;
+# load mockpkg via a symlink in a directory called `pkg`
+# so we can test ExtendRootDirectories below
+# first create a temporary directory for all of this
+gap> tmp_dir := DirectoryTemporary( );;
+
+# create a subdirectory `<tmp_dir>/pkg`
+gap> Exec( Concatenation( "mkdir -p ", Filename( tmp_dir, "/pkg" ) ) );
+
+# make `<tmp_dir>/pkg/mockpkg` a symlink to `tst/mockpkg`
+gap> Exec( Concatenation( "ln -sfn ", Filename( DirectoriesLibrary("tst/mockpkg"), "" )," ", Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg" ) ) );
+gap> mockpkgpath := Directory( Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg" ) );;
 gap> ValidatePackageInfo(Filename(mockpkgpath, "PackageInfo.g"));
 true
 
@@ -473,9 +482,14 @@ gap> IsPackageLoaded("mockpkg", ">=2.0");
 false
 
 # instruct GAP to load the package, and record all its declarations
+# the help book of mockpkg might already have been loaded in other tests
+# -> we suppress a warning about this
+gap> old_warning_level := InfoLevel( InfoWarning );;
+gap> SetInfoLevel( InfoWarning, 0 );
 gap> PackageVariablesInfo("mockpkg", "0.1");;
 oops, should not print here
 oops, should not print here
+gap> SetInfoLevel( InfoWarning, old_warning_level );
 gap> ShowPackageVariables("mockpkg");
 new global functions:
   mockpkg_GlobalFunction(  )*
@@ -640,5 +654,20 @@ false
 gap> IsPackageLoaded("mockpkg", ">=2.0");
 false
 
+# now add the temporary directory created above as a new root directory
+gap> ExtendRootDirectories( [ Filename( tmp_dir, "" ) ] );
+
+# make sure that the newly discovered installation path matches
+# the path from which mockpkg was loaded above
+gap> Last( GAPInfo.PackagesInfo.mockpkg ).InstallationPath =
+>      GAPInfo.PackagesLoaded.mockpkg[1];
+true
+
+#
+gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg" ) );
+gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg/" ) );
+gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", "/some/other/directory" );
+Error, another version of package mockpkg is already loaded
+
 #
 gap> STOP_TEST( "package.tst", 1);