diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/aot/hint/ResourceHints.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/aot/hint/ResourceHints.java
index e17bd9934a2..12c5cee747a 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/aot/hint/ResourceHints.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/aot/hint/ResourceHints.java
@@ -118,11 +118,11 @@ public class ResourceHints {
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the supplied resource is not a
 	 * {@link ClassPathResource} or does not {@linkplain Resource#exists() exist}
 	 * @see #registerPattern(String)
-	 * @see ClassPathResource#getAbsolutePath()
+	 * @see ClassPathResource#getPath()
 	 */
 	public void registerResource(Resource resource) {
 		if (resource instanceof ClassPathResource classPathResource && classPathResource.exists()) {
-			registerPattern(classPathResource.getAbsolutePath());
+			registerPattern(classPathResource.getPath());
 		}
 		else {
 			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Resource must be a ClassPathResource that exists: " + resource);
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResource.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResource.java
index 4b96efc7d74..5015b644221 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResource.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResource.java
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  */
 public class ClassPathResource extends AbstractFileResolvingResource {
 
+	/**
+	 * Internal representation of the original path supplied by the user,
+	 * used for creating relative paths and resolving URLs and InputStreams.
+	 */
 	private final String path;
 
 	private final String absolutePath;
@@ -119,44 +123,13 @@ public class ClassPathResource extends AbstractFileResolvingResource {
 
 
 	/**
-	 * Return the path for this resource.
-	 * <p>If this resource was created using
-	 * {@link ClassPathResource#ClassPathResource(String) ClassPathResource(String)}
-	 * or {@link ClassPathResource#ClassPathResource(String, ClassLoader)
-	 * ClassPathResource(String, ClassLoader)}, the returned path is a
-	 * {@linkplain StringUtils#cleanPath(String) cleaned} version of the
-	 * <em>absolute path</em> supplied to the constructor, <strong>without</strong>
-	 * a leading slash.
-	 * <p>If this resource was created using
-	 * {@link ClassPathResource#ClassPathResource(String, Class)
-	 * ClassPathResource(String, Class)} with an absolute path, the returned path
-	 * is a {@linkplain StringUtils#cleanPath(String) cleaned} version of the
-	 * <em>absolute path</em> supplied to the constructor, <strong>with</strong>
-	 * a leading slash.
-	 * <p>If this resource was created using
-	 * {@link ClassPathResource#ClassPathResource(String, Class)
-	 * ClassPathResource(String, Class)} with a relative path, the returned path
-	 * is a {@linkplain StringUtils#cleanPath(String) cleaned} version of the
-	 * <em>relative path</em> supplied to the constructor.
-	 * <p>The path returned by this method cannot be reliably used with
-	 * {@link ClassLoader#getResource(String)}.
-	 * <p>If you consistently need the <em>absolute path</em>, use
-	 * {@link #getAbsolutePath()} instead.
-	 * @see #getAbsolutePath()
+	 * Return the <em>absolute path</em> for this resource, as a
+	 * {@linkplain StringUtils#cleanPath(String) cleaned} resource path within
+	 * the class path.
+	 * <p>The path returned by this method does not have a leading slash and is
+	 * suitable for use with {@link ClassLoader#getResource(String)}.
 	 */
 	public final String getPath() {
-		return this.path;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Return the <em>absolute path</em> for this resource, as a resource path
-	 * within the class path without a leading slash.
-	 * <p>The path returned by this method is suitable for use with
-	 * {@link ClassLoader#getResource(String)}.
-	 * @since 6.0
-	 * @see #getPath()
-	 */
-	public final String getAbsolutePath() {
 		return this.absolutePath;
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResourceTests.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResourceTests.java
index 9720f081d8d..f496c35ec82 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResourceTests.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/io/ClassPathResourceTests.java
@@ -103,9 +103,11 @@ class ClassPathResourceTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void preserveLeadingSlashForClassRelativeAccess() {
-		assertThat(new ClassPathResource("/test.html", getClass()).getPath()).isEqualTo("/test.html");
-		assertThat(((ClassPathResource) new ClassPathResource("", getClass()).createRelative("/test.html")).getPath()).isEqualTo("/test.html");
+	void convertToAbsolutePathForClassRelativeAccess() {
+		assertThat(new ClassPathResource("/test.html", getClass()).getPath()).isEqualTo("test.html");
+		assertThat(new ClassPathResource("", getClass()).getPath()).isEqualTo(PACKAGE_PATH + "/");
+		assertThat(((ClassPathResource) new ClassPathResource("", getClass()).createRelative("/test.html")).getPath()).isEqualTo("test.html");
+		assertThat(((ClassPathResource) new ClassPathResource("", getClass()).createRelative("test.html")).getPath()).isEqualTo(PACKAGE_PATH + "/test.html");
 	}
 
 	@Test