diff --git a/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php b/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php
index d175bb2ef0..4986b86ec0 100644
--- a/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php
+++ b/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ switch( $mode )
 				{
 					if( !is_file($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$sub_dir) && !is_link($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$sub_dir) && $sub_dir != "." && $sub_dir != ".." && $sub_dir != "CVS" )
 					{
-						if( @file_exists($phpbb_root_path. "templates/" . $sub_dir . "/theme_info.cfg") )
+						if( @file_exists(@realpath($phpbb_root_path. "templates/" . $sub_dir . "/theme_info.cfg")) )
 						{
 							include($phpbb_root_path. "templates/" . $sub_dir . "/theme_info.cfg");
 							
diff --git a/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php b/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php
index c57b6a97ff..fd1dcc0ba8 100644
--- a/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php
+++ b/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 		{
 			if( $this_userdata['user_avatar_type'] == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && $this_userdata['user_avatar'] != "" )
 			{
-				if( @file_exists("./" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar']) )
+				if( @file_exists(@realpath("./" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar'])) )
 				{
 					@unlink("./" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar']);
 				}
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 
 			if( $user_avatar_loc != "" )
 			{
-				if( file_exists($user_avatar_loc) && ereg(".jpg$|.gif$|.png$", $user_avatar_name) )
+				if( file_exists(@realpath($user_avatar_loc)) && ereg(".jpg$|.gif$|.png$", $user_avatar_name) )
 				{
 					if( $user_avatar_size <= $board_config['avatar_filesize'] && $avatar_size > 0)
 					{
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 
 								if( $this_userdata['user_avatar_type'] == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && $this_userdata['user_avatar'] != "" )
 								{
-									if( @file_exists("./../" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar']) )
+									if( @file_exists(@realpath("./../" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar'])) )
 									{
 										@unlink("./../" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/". $this_userdata['user_avatar']);
 									}
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 
 										if( $this_userdata['user_avatar_type'] == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && $this_userdata['user_avatar'] != "")
 										{
-											if( file_exists("./../" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar']) )
+											if( file_exists(@realpath("./../" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar'])) )
 											{
 												@unlink("./../" . $board_config['avatar_path'] . "/" . $this_userdata['user_avatar']);
 											}
@@ -1108,7 +1108,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 			'S_PROFILE_ACTION' => append_sid("admin_users.$phpEx"))
 		);
 
-		if( file_exists('./../' . $board_config['avatar_path'] ) && ($board_config['allow_avatar_upload'] == TRUE) )
+		if( file_exists(@realpath('./../' . $board_config['avatar_path'])) && ($board_config['allow_avatar_upload'] == TRUE) )
 		{
 			if ( $form_enctype != '' )
 			{
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 			$template->assign_block_vars('avatar_remote_upload', array() );
 		}
 
-		if( file_exists('./../' . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] ) && ($board_config['allow_avatar_local'] == TRUE) )
+		if( file_exists(@realpath('./../' . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'])) && ($board_config['allow_avatar_local'] == TRUE) )
 		{
 			$template->assign_block_vars('avatar_local_gallery', array() );
 		}
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/emailer.php b/phpBB/includes/emailer.php
index ff99e338e8..12bc0a8732 100755
--- a/phpBB/includes/emailer.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/emailer.php
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ class emailer
 			$template_lang = $board_config['default_lang'];
 		}
 
-		$this->tpl_file = $phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $template_lang . '/email/' . $template_file . '.tpl';
+		$this->tpl_file = realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $template_lang . '/email/' . $template_file . '.tpl');
+
 		if ( !file_exists($this->tpl_file) )
 		{
 			message_die(GENERAL_ERROR, 'Could not find email template file ' . $template_file, '', __LINE__, __FILE__);
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions.php b/phpBB/includes/functions.php
index c088dec2d9..35f01039bd 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions.php
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ function init_userprefs($userdata)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if ( !file_exists($phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $board_config['default_lang'] . '/lang_main.'.$phpEx) )
+	if ( !file_exists(@realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $board_config['default_lang'] . '/lang_main.'.$phpEx)) )
 	{
 		$board_config['default_lang'] = 'english';
 	}
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ function init_userprefs($userdata)
 
 	if ( defined('IN_ADMIN') )
 	{
-		if( !file_exists($phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $board_config['default_lang'] . '/lang_admin.'.$phpEx) )
+		if( !file_exists(@realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $board_config['default_lang'] . '/lang_admin.'.$phpEx)) )
 		{
 			$board_config['default_lang'] = 'english';
 		}
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ function setup_style($style)
 			message_die(CRITICAL_ERROR, "Could not open $template_name template config file", '', __LINE__, __FILE__);
 		}
 
-		$img_lang = ( file_exists($current_template_path . '/images/lang_' . $board_config['default_lang']) ) ? $board_config['default_lang'] : 'english';
+		$img_lang = ( file_exists(@realpath($current_template_path . '/images/lang_' . $board_config['default_lang'])) ) ? $board_config['default_lang'] : 'english';
 
 		while( list($key, $value) = @each($images) )
 		{
@@ -675,4 +675,19 @@ function message_die($msg_code, $msg_text = '', $msg_title = '', $err_line = '',
 
 	exit;
 }
-?>
\ No newline at end of file
+
+//
+// This function is for compatibility with PHP 4.x's realpath()
+// function.  In later versions of PHP, it needs to be called
+// to do checks with some functions.  Older versions of PHP don't
+// seem to need this, so we'll just return the original value.
+//
+// dougk_ff7 <October 5, 2002>
+if ( !function_exists(realpath) )
+{
+	function realpath($path)
+	{
+		return $path;
+	}
+}
+?>
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/template.php b/phpBB/includes/template.php
index d27a3e4259..85802ea932 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/template.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/template.php
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ class Template {
 		// Check if it's an absolute or relative path.
 		if (substr($filename, 0, 1) != '/')
 		{
-			$filename = $this->root . '/' . $filename;
+       		$filename = realpath($this->root . '/' . $filename);
 		}
 
 		if (!file_exists($filename))
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/usercp_avatar.php b/phpBB/includes/usercp_avatar.php
index 740d60db95..349b9e4717 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/usercp_avatar.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/usercp_avatar.php
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ function user_avatar_delete($avatar_type, $avatar_file)
 
 	if ( $avatar_type == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && $avatar_file != '' )
 	{
-		if ( @file_exists('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $avatar_file) )
+		if ( @file_exists(@realpath('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $avatar_file)) )
 		{
 			@unlink('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $avatar_file);
 		}
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ function user_avatar_delete($avatar_type, $avatar_file)
 function user_avatar_gallery($mode, &$error, &$error_msg, $avatar_filename)
 {
 	global $board_config;
-	if ( file_exists($board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . '/' . $avatar_filename) && ($mode == 'editprofile') )
+	if ( file_exists(@realpath($board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . '/' . $avatar_filename)) && ($mode == 'editprofile') )
 	{
 		$return = ", user_avatar = '" . str_replace("\'", "''", $avatar_filename) . "', user_avatar_type = " . USER_AVATAR_GALLERY;
 	}
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ function user_avatar_upload($mode, $avatar_mode, &$current_avatar, &$current_typ
 			$error_msg = ( !empty($error_msg) ) ? $error_msg . '<br />' . $l_avatar_size : $l_avatar_size;
 		}
 	}
-	else if ( $avatar_mode == 'local' && file_exists($avatar_filename) && preg_match('/\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)$/i', $avatar_realname) )
+	else if ( file_exists(@realpath($avatar_filename)) ) && preg_match('/\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)$/i', $avatar_realname) )
 	{
 		if ( $avatar_filesize <= $board_config['avatar_filesize'] && $avatar_filesize > 0 )
 		{
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ function user_avatar_upload($mode, $avatar_mode, &$current_avatar, &$current_typ
 
 		if ( $mode == 'editprofile' && $current_type == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && $current_avatar != '' )
 		{
-			if ( file_exists('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $current_avatar) )
+			if ( file_exists(@realpath('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $current_avatar)) )
 			{
 				@unlink('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $current_avatar);
 			}
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/usercp_register.php b/phpBB/includes/usercp_register.php
index 0e2e7cec5f..a36090f947 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/usercp_register.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/usercp_register.php
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ if (
 			$user_avatar = $user_avatar_local;
 			$user_avatar_type = USER_AVATAR_GALLERY;
 
-			if ( $userdata['user_avatar_type'] == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && @file_exists('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $userdata['user_avatar']) )
+			if ( $userdata['user_avatar_type'] == USER_AVATAR_UPLOAD && @file_exists(@realpath('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $userdata['user_avatar'])) )
 			{
 				@unlink('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $userdata['user_avatar']);
 			}
@@ -920,7 +920,7 @@ else
 		{
 			$template->assign_block_vars('switch_avatar_block', array() );
 
-			if ( $board_config['allow_avatar_upload'] && file_exists('./' . $board_config['avatar_path']) )
+			if ( $board_config['allow_avatar_upload'] && file_exists(@realpath('./' . $board_config['avatar_path'])) )
 			{
 				if ( $form_enctype != '' )
 				{
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ else
 				$template->assign_block_vars('switch_avatar_block.switch_avatar_remote_link', array() );
 			}
 
-			if ( $board_config['allow_avatar_local'] && file_exists('./' . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path']) )
+			if ( $board_config['allow_avatar_local'] && file_exists(@realpath('./' . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'])) )
 			{
 				$template->assign_block_vars('switch_avatar_block.switch_avatar_local_gallery', array() );
 			}
diff --git a/phpBB/install.php b/phpBB/install.php
index cf46049762..a1d69c4436 100644
--- a/phpBB/install.php
+++ b/phpBB/install.php
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ $server_port = ( !empty($HTTP_POST_VARS['server_port']) ) ? $HTTP_POST_VARS['ser
 $board_email = ( !empty($HTTP_POST_VARS['board_email']) ) ? $HTTP_POST_VARS['board_email'] : "";
 $script_path = ( !empty($HTTP_POST_VARS['script_path']) ) ? $HTTP_POST_VARS['script_path'] : "";
 
-if( @file_exists('config.'.$phpEx) )
+if( @file_exists(@realpath('config.'.$phpEx)) )
 {
 	include('config.'.$phpEx);
 }