diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py b/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
index b61e8b7acff3..62aca98a32b6 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
@@ -258,16 +258,19 @@ def make_dvi(self, tex, fontsize):
         basefile = self.get_basefile(tex, fontsize)
         dvifile = '%s.dvi' % basefile
         if not os.path.exists(dvifile):
-            texfile = self.make_tex(tex, fontsize)
+            texfile = Path(self.make_tex(tex, fontsize))
             # Generate the dvi in a temporary directory to avoid race
             # conditions e.g. if multiple processes try to process the same tex
             # string at the same time.  Having tmpdir be a subdirectory of the
             # final output dir ensures that they are on the same filesystem,
-            # and thus replace() works atomically.
+            # and thus replace() works atomically.  It also allows referring to
+            # the texfile with a relative path (for pathological MPLCONFIGDIRs,
+            # the absolute path may contain characters (e.g. ~) that TeX does
+            # not support.)
             with TemporaryDirectory(dir=Path(dvifile).parent) as tmpdir:
                 self._run_checked_subprocess(
                     ["latex", "-interaction=nonstopmode", "--halt-on-error",
-                     texfile], tex, cwd=tmpdir)
+                     f"../{texfile.name}"], tex, cwd=tmpdir)
                 (Path(tmpdir) / Path(dvifile).name).replace(dvifile)
         return dvifile