diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java
index 21f10efda004..fe586417c8aa 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/vfs/impl/local/LocalFileSystemBase.java
@@ -518,17 +518,12 @@ public abstract class LocalFileSystemBase extends LocalFileSystem {
       if (SystemInfo.isWindows) {
         return nioFile.toRealPath(LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS).getFileName().toString();
       }
-      else {
-        // Handle one common case as quickly as possible: compute the file's realpath, resolving links
-        // (to avoid quadratic behaviour from directory listing). In general this is not a suitable canonical name for the
-        // file, because links have been resolved, but if the result compares with case-insensitive equality with the given
-        // file's path, then the return value is suitable for use as a canonical name.
-        var resolvedRealPath = nioFile.toRealPath();
-        if (resolvedRealPath.toString().equalsIgnoreCase(file.getPath())) {
-          return resolvedRealPath.getFileName().toString();
-        }
+      // `toRealPath(NOFOLLOW_LINKS)` is too slow on Unix; `toRealPath()` works when there are no symlinks
+      var realPath = nioFile.toRealPath();
+      if (realPath.toString().equalsIgnoreCase(file.getPath())) {
+        return realPath.getFileName().toString();
       }
-      // `Path#toRealPath` resolves the whole path starting from the root, but only the last component is necessary
+      // last resort: listing files in the parent directory
       try (var stream = Files.newDirectoryStream(convertToNioFileAndCheck(parent, false))) {
         for (var path : stream) {
           var name = path.getFileName().toString();