diff --git a/tuf/README.md b/tuf/README.md
index 4a40a254..ea317886 100644
--- a/tuf/README.md
+++ b/tuf/README.md
@@ -250,9 +250,10 @@ $ mkdir django; echo 'file4' > django/file4.txt
 # In the example below, file permissions of the target (octal number specifying file
 # access for owner, group, others (e.g., 0755) is added alongside the default fileinfo.
 # All target objects in metadata include the target's filepath, hash, and length.
->>> octal_file_permissions = oct(os.stat(target2_filepath).st_mode)[4:]
+>>> target3_filepath = "path/to/repository/targets/file3.txt"
+>>> octal_file_permissions = oct(os.stat(target3_filepath).st_mode)[4:]
 >>> custom_file_permissions = {'file_permissions': octal_file_permissions}
->>> repository.targets.add_target("path/to/repository/targets/file3.txt", custom_file_permissions)
+>>> repository.targets.add_target(target3_filepath, custom_file_permissions)
 
 # The private key of the updated targets metadata must be loaded before it can be signed and
 # written (Note the load_repository() call above).
diff --git a/tuf/client/updater.py b/tuf/client/updater.py
index 5f7d4802..da836130 100755
--- a/tuf/client/updater.py
+++ b/tuf/client/updater.py
@@ -2615,7 +2615,10 @@ def updated_targets(self, targets, destination_directory):
     for target in targets:
       # Get the target's filepath located in 'destination_directory'.
       # We will compare targets against this file.
-      target_filepath = os.path.join(destination_directory, target['filepath'])
+      filepath = target['filepath']
+      if filepath[0] == '/':
+        filepath = filepath[1:]
+      target_filepath = os.path.join(destination_directory, filepath)
       
       if target_filepath in updated_targetpaths:
         continue