diff --git a/phpBB/admin/admin_db_utilities.php b/phpBB/admin/admin_db_utilities.php
index 44f5188568..3f364972e6 100644
--- a/phpBB/admin/admin_db_utilities.php
+++ b/phpBB/admin/admin_db_utilities.php
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ if( isset($HTTP_GET_VARS['perform']) || isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['perform']) )
 				// a hackers attempt at getting us to process a local system
 				// file.
 				//
-				if( file_exists($backup_file_tmpname) )
+				if( file_exists(realpath($backup_file_tmpname)) )
 				{
 					if( preg_match("/^(text\/[a-zA-Z]+)|(application\/(x\-)?gzip(\-compressed)?)|(application\/octet-stream)$/is", $backup_file_type) )
 					{
diff --git a/phpBB/admin/admin_smilies.php b/phpBB/admin/admin_smilies.php
index dc19470c2c..be8b9bfd3b 100644
--- a/phpBB/admin/admin_smilies.php
+++ b/phpBB/admin/admin_smilies.php
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ $dir = @opendir($phpbb_root_path . $board_config['smilies_path']);
 
 while($file = @readdir($dir))
 {
-	if( !@is_dir($phpbb_root_path . $board_config['smilies_path'] . '/' . $file) )
+	if( !@is_dir(realpath($phpbb_root_path . $board_config['smilies_path'] . '/' . $file)) )
 	{
 		$img_size = @getimagesize($phpbb_root_path . $board_config['smilies_path'] . '/' . $file);
 
diff --git a/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php b/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php
index a7d636b6b8..90cfc04fc0 100644
--- a/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php
+++ b/phpBB/admin/admin_styles.php
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ switch( $mode )
 			{
 				while( $sub_dir = @readdir($dir) )
 				{
-					if( !is_file($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$sub_dir) && !is_link($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$sub_dir) && $sub_dir != "." && $sub_dir != ".." && $sub_dir != "CVS" )
+					if( !is_file(realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$sub_dir)) && !is_link(realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$sub_dir)) && $sub_dir != "." && $sub_dir != ".." && $sub_dir != "CVS" )
 					{
 						if( @file_exists(@realpath($phpbb_root_path. "templates/" . $sub_dir . "/theme_info.cfg")) )
 						{
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@ switch( $mode )
 				$s_template_select = '<select name="template_name">';
 				while( $file = @readdir($dir) )
 				{	
-					if( !is_file($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' . $file) && !is_link($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' . $file) && $file != "." && $file != ".." && $file != "CVS" )
+					if( !is_file(realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' . $file)) && !is_link(realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' . $file)) && $file != "." && $file != ".." && $file != "CVS" )
 					{
 						if($file == $selected['template_name'])
 						{
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ switch( $mode )
 				$s_template_select = '<select name="export_template">';
 				while( $file = @readdir($dir) )
 				{	
-					if( !is_file($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' . $file) && !is_link($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$file) && $file != "." && $file != ".." && $file != "CVS" )
+					if( !is_file(realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' . $file)) && !is_link(realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'templates/' .$file)) && $file != "." && $file != ".." && $file != "CVS" )
 					{
 						$s_template_select .= '<option value="' . $file . '">' . $file . "</option>\n";
 					}
diff --git a/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php b/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php
index 79edfe240f..b2a1da8d30 100644
--- a/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php
+++ b/phpBB/admin/admin_users.php
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@ if( $mode == 'edit' || $mode == 'save' && ( isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['username']) |
 			$avatar_images = array();
 			while( $file = @readdir($dir) )
 			{
-				if( $file != "." && $file != ".." && !is_file("./../" . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . "/" . $file) && !is_link("./../" . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . "/" . $file) )
+				if( $file != "." && $file != ".." && !is_file(realpath("./../" . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . "/" . $file)) && !is_link(realpath("./../" . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . "/" . $file)) )
 				{
 					$sub_dir = @opendir("../" . $board_config['avatar_gallery_path'] . "/" . $file);
 
diff --git a/phpBB/develop/encoding_emails.php b/phpBB/develop/encoding_emails.php
index 7c1a109692..b55d7b7ac0 100644
--- a/phpBB/develop/encoding_emails.php
+++ b/phpBB/develop/encoding_emails.php
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ $dir = opendir($dirname);
 
 while ( $file = readdir($dir) )
 {
-	if ( ereg('^lang_', $file) && !is_file($dirname . '/' . $file) && !is_link($dirname . '/' . $file) )
+	if ( ereg('^lang_', $file) && !is_file(realpath($dirname . '/' . $file)) && !is_link(realpath($dirname . '/' . $file)) )
 	{
 		include($dirname . '/' . $file . '/lang_main.php');
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ while ( $file = readdir($dir) )
 
 		while ( $email = readdir($lang_dir) )
 		{
-			if ( ereg('\.tpl$', $email) && is_file($dirname . '/' . $file . '/email/' . $email) )
+			if ( ereg('\.tpl$', $email) && is_file(realpath($dirname . '/' . $file . '/email/' . $email)) )
 			{
 				$fp = fopen($dirname . '/' . $file . '/email/' . $email, 'r+');
 
diff --git a/phpBB/develop/revar_lang_files.php b/phpBB/develop/revar_lang_files.php
index b5fbc5631b..9886baa09b 100644
--- a/phpBB/develop/revar_lang_files.php
+++ b/phpBB/develop/revar_lang_files.php
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ $dir = opendir($dirname);
 
 while ( $file = readdir($dir) )
 {
-	if ( ereg("^lang_", $file) && !is_file($dirname . "/" . $file) && !is_link($dirname . "/" . $file) )
+	if ( ereg("^lang_", $file) && !is_file(realpath($dirname . "/" . $file)) && !is_link(realpath($dirname . "/" . $file)) )
 	{
 		foreach($vars as $lang_file => $lang_var)
 		{
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/emailer.php b/phpBB/includes/emailer.php
index 8e00d6df65..13c82c5a29 100755
--- a/phpBB/includes/emailer.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/emailer.php
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class emailer
 
 		$this->tpl_file = @realpath($phpbb_root_path . 'language/lang_' . $template_lang . '/email/' . $template_file . '.tpl');
 
-		if ( !file_exists($this->tpl_file) )
+		if ( !file_exists(realpath($this->tpl_file)) )
 		{
 			message_die(GENERAL_ERROR, 'Could not find email template file ' . $template_file, '', __LINE__, __FILE__);
 		}
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ class emailer
 	//
 	function encode_file($sourcefile)
 	{
-		if (is_readable($sourcefile))
+		if (is_readable(realpath($sourcefile)))
 		{
 			$fd = fopen($sourcefile, "r");
 			$contents = fread($fd, filesize($sourcefile));