--- a/libnotify/notification.c
+++ b/libnotify/notification.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "notify.h"
 #include "internal.h"
 
+#include <stdlib.h>
 
 /**
  * SECTION:notification
@@ -554,7 +555,7 @@
                 if (base_path && base_path[0] == G_DIR_SEPARATOR) {
                         path_filename = g_strdup (base_path);
                 } else {
-                        path_filename = realpath (base_path, NULL);
+                        path_filename = _fullpath (base_path, NULL, _MAX_PATH);
 
                         if (path_filename == NULL) {
                                 /* File path is not existing, but let's check