diff --git a/lib/normalize.js b/lib/normalize.js
index f65e6ad..0388220 100644
--- a/lib/normalize.js
+++ b/lib/normalize.js
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ async function asyncSteps (pkg, { steps, root, changes }) {
   }
 
   // expand "directories.bin"
-  if (steps.includes('binDir') && data.directories?.bin && !data.bin) {
+  if (steps.includes('binDir') && data.directories?.bin && !data.bin && pkg.path) {
     const binPath = secureAndUnixifyPath(data.directories.bin)
     const bins = await lazyLoadGlob()('**', { cwd: path.resolve(pkg.path, binPath) })
     data.bin = bins.reduce((acc, binFile) => {
diff --git a/test/normalize.js b/test/normalize.js
index 59fa2b3..ba298a6 100644
--- a/test/normalize.js
+++ b/test/normalize.js
@@ -172,6 +172,20 @@ for (const [name, testNormalize] of Object.entries(testMethods)) {
       t.strictSame(content.bin, { echo: 'bin/echo' })
     })
 
+    t.test('directories.bin without filesystem path', async t => {
+      const p = new Pkg()
+      p.fromContent({
+        name: 'registry-test',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+        directories: {
+          bin: './bin',
+        },
+      })
+      await p.normalize({ steps: Pkg.normalizeSteps })
+      t.notOk(p.content.bin, 'bin should not be expanded without filesystem path')
+      t.ok(p.content.directories.bin, 'directories.bin should be preserved')
+    })
+
     t.test('dedupe optional deps out of regular deps', async t => {
       t.test('choose optional deps in conflict, removing empty dependencies', async t => {
         const { content } = await testNormalize(t, ({