diff --git a/dataflow/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/dataflow/cfg/visualize/DOTCFGVisualizer.java b/dataflow/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/dataflow/cfg/visualize/DOTCFGVisualizer.java
index 52818b491f3..bf5310772ac 100644
--- a/dataflow/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/dataflow/cfg/visualize/DOTCFGVisualizer.java
+++ b/dataflow/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/dataflow/cfg/visualize/DOTCFGVisualizer.java
@@ -187,9 +187,7 @@ public String visualizeBlockTransferInputAfter(Block bb, Analysis<V, S, T> analy
    */
   protected String dotOutputFileName(UnderlyingAST ast) {
     StringBuilder srcLoc = new StringBuilder();
-    StringBuilder outFile = new StringBuilder(outDir);
-
-    outFile.append("/");
+    StringBuilder outFile = new StringBuilder();
 
     if (ast.getKind() == UnderlyingAST.Kind.ARBITRARY_CODE) {
       CFGStatement cfgStatement = (CFGStatement) ast;
@@ -264,8 +262,13 @@ protected String dotOutputFileName(UnderlyingAST ast) {
     }
     outFile.append(".dot");
 
+    // make path safe for Linux
+    if (outFile.length() > 255) {
+      outFile.setLength(255);
+    }
     // make path safe for Windows
-    String outFileName = outFile.toString().replace("<", "_").replace(">", "");
+    String outFileBaseName = outFile.toString().replace("<", "_").replace(">", "");
+    String outFileName = outDir + "/" + outFileBaseName;
 
     generated.put(srcLoc.toString(), outFileName);