diff --git a/build.bat b/build.bat
index d050956a4d..316a215103 100644
--- a/build.bat
+++ b/build.bat
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 @REM
 
 @echo off
-setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
+setlocal
 
 set "TARGET=useage"
 set "DEBUG=false"
@@ -118,16 +118,21 @@ if "%TARGET%"=="clean" (
 ) else if "%TARGET%"=="dependency-security-check" (
     set "CMD=%BASE_CMD% dependency-check:check"
 ) else if "%TARGET%"=="format-poms" (
+    setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
     set "SAXON=%USERPROFILE%\.m2\repository\net\sf\saxon\Saxon-HE\9.9.1-8\Saxon-HE-9.9.1-8.jar"
-    for /r %%POM in (pom.xml) do (
-        echo | set /p dummyName="Formatting %%POM ..."
-        java -jar "%SAXON%" -s:%%POM -xsl:format-pom.xslt -o:%%POM
-        echo OK
+    for /r %%P in (pom.xml) do (
+        if exist "%%P" (
+            set "POM=%%P"
+            echo | set /p dummyName="Formatting !POM! ..."
+            java -jar "!SAXON!" -s:!POM! -xsl:format-pom.xslt -o:!POM!
+            echo OK
 
-        echo | set /p dummyName="Checking for duplicate license entries in %%POM ... "
-        java -cp "%SAXON%" net.sf.saxon.Query -q:check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq pom-file-uri=file:%%POM
-        echo OK
+            echo | set /p dummyName="Checking for duplicate license entries in !POM! ... "
+            java -cp "!SAXON!" net.sf.saxon.Query -q:check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq pom-file-path=!POM!
+            echo OK
+        )
     )
+    endlocal
     goto end
 ) else (
     echo Invalid target: %TARGET%
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 37673a114d..c278cec94f 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ if [ "${TARGET}" == "format-poms" ]; then
     echo "OK"
 
     echo -n "Checking for duplicate license entries in ${pom} ... "
-    CMD="java -cp ${SAXON} net.sf.saxon.Query -q:check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq pom-file-uri=file:${pom}"
+    CMD="java -cp ${SAXON} net.sf.saxon.Query -q:check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq pom-file-path=${pom}"
     $CMD
     echo "OK"
 
diff --git a/check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq b/check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq
index 6407294d9d..8721bcb5d5 100644
--- a/check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq
+++ b/check-pom-license-uniqueness.xq
@@ -31,9 +31,18 @@ declare namespace pom = "http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0";
 declare option output:omit-xml-declaration "yes";
 
 
-(: Must be set externally with the URI to the pom.xml file :)
-declare variable $pom-file-uri as xs:string external;
+(: Must be set externally with the file-system path to the pom.xml file :)
+declare variable $pom-file-path as xs:string external;
 
+declare %private function local:path-to-uri($path as xs:string) as xs:string {
+    if (starts-with($path, "/"))
+    then
+        "file://" || $path
+    else
+        "file:///" || replace($path, "\\", "/")
+};
+
+let $pom-file-uri := local:path-to-uri($pom-file-path)
 let $pom := doc($pom-file-uri)
 return
 (