diff --git a/whipper/common/program.py b/whipper/common/program.py
index d908017..6f0f044 100644
--- a/whipper/common/program.py
+++ b/whipper/common/program.py
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ class Program:
                 # htoa defaults to disc's artist
                 v['a'] = metadata.artist
 
-        template = re.sub(r'%(\w)', r'%(\1)s', template)
+        template = re.sub(r'%(\w)', r'%(\1)s', template.strip('/'))
         v_fltr = {k: self._filter.filter(v2) if isinstance(v2, str) else v2
                   for k, v2 in v.items()}
         return os.path.join(outdir, template % v_fltr)