diff --git a/ape/loader.c b/ape/loader.c
index 13e6c5081..d3e95b822 100644
--- a/ape/loader.c
+++ b/ape/loader.c
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@
 #define MIN(X, Y) ((Y) > (X) ? (X) : (Y))
 #define MAX(X, Y) ((Y) < (X) ? (X) : (Y))
 
+#define PATH_MAX 1024   /* XXX verify */
+
 #define SupportsLinux()   (SUPPORT_VECTOR & LINUX)
 #define SupportsXnu()     (SUPPORT_VECTOR & XNU)
 #define SupportsFreebsd() (SUPPORT_VECTOR & FREEBSD)
@@ -212,13 +214,13 @@ struct PathSearcher {
   const char *name;
   const char *syspath;
   unsigned long namelen;
-  char path[1024];
+  char path[PATH_MAX];
 };
 
 struct ApeLoader {
   union ElfPhdrBuf phdr;
   struct PathSearcher ps;
-  char path[1024];
+  char path[PATH_MAX];
 };
 
 EXTERN_C long SystemCall(long, long, long, long, long, long, long, int);
@@ -239,6 +241,8 @@ static int StrCmp(const char *l, const char *r) {
   return (l[i] & 255) - (r[i] & 255);
 }
 
+#if 0
+
 static const char *StrRChr(const char *s, int c) {
   const char *b = 0;
   if (s) {
@@ -256,6 +260,8 @@ static const char *BaseName(const char *s) {
   return b ? b + 1 : s;
 }
 
+#endif
+
 static void Bzero(void *a, unsigned long n) {
   long z;
   char *p, *e;
@@ -347,7 +353,7 @@ static char *Utox(char p[19], unsigned long x) {
   return p;
 }
 
-static char *Utoa(char p[21], unsigned long x) {
+static char *Utoa(char p[20], unsigned long x) {
   char t;
   unsigned long i, a, b;
   i = 0;
@@ -538,6 +544,40 @@ __attribute__((__noreturn__)) static void Pexit(int os, const char *c, int rc,
   Exit(127, os);
 }
 
+#define PSFD "/proc/self/fd/"
+
+static int RealPath(int os, int fd, char *path, char **resolved) {
+  char buf[PATH_MAX];
+  int rc;
+  if (IsLinux()) {
+    char psfd[sizeof(PSFD) + 19];
+    MemMove(psfd, PSFD, sizeof(PSFD) - 1);
+    Utoa(psfd + sizeof(PSFD) - 1, fd);
+    rc = SystemCall(-100, (long)psfd, (long)buf, PATH_MAX, 0, 0, 0,
+                    IsAarch64() ? 78 : 267);
+    if (rc >= 0) {
+      if (rc == PATH_MAX) {
+        rc = -36;
+      } else {
+        buf[rc] = 0;
+      }
+    }
+  } else if (IsXnu()) {
+    rc = SystemCall(fd, 50, (long)buf, 0, 0, 0, 0, 92 | 0x2000000);
+  } else if (IsOpenbsd()) {
+    rc = SystemCall((long)path, (long)buf, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 115);
+  } else {
+    *resolved = 0;
+    return 0;
+  }
+  if (rc >= 0) {
+    MemMove(path, buf, StrLen(buf) + 1);
+    *resolved = path;
+    rc = 0;
+  }
+  return rc;
+}
+
 static char AccessCommand(struct PathSearcher *ps, unsigned long pathlen) {
   if (pathlen + 1 + ps->namelen + 1 > sizeof(ps->path)) return 0;
   if (pathlen && ps->path[pathlen - 1] != '/') ps->path[pathlen++] = '/';
@@ -1039,6 +1079,8 @@ EXTERN_C __attribute__((__noreturn__)) void ApeLoader(long di, long *sp,
     Pexit(os, prog, 0, "not found (maybe chmod +x or ./ needed)");
   } else if ((fd = Open(exe, O_RDONLY, 0, os)) < 0) {
     Pexit(os, exe, fd, "open");
+  } else if ((rc = RealPath(os, fd, exe, &prog)) < 0) {
+    Pexit(os, exe, rc, "realpath");
   } else if ((rc = Pread(fd, ebuf->buf, sizeof(ebuf->buf), 0, os)) < 0) {
     Pexit(os, exe, rc, "read");
   } else if ((unsigned long)rc < sizeof(ebuf->ehdr)) {
@@ -1046,10 +1088,9 @@ EXTERN_C __attribute__((__noreturn__)) void ApeLoader(long di, long *sp,
   }
   pe = ebuf->buf + rc;
 
-  /* change argv[0] to resolved path if it's ambiguous */
-  if (argc > 0 && ((*prog != '/' && *exe == '/' && !StrCmp(prog, argv[0])) ||
-                   !StrCmp(BaseName(prog), argv[0]))) {
-    argv[0] = exe;
+  /* change argv[0] to resolved path (TODO remove) */
+  if (argc > 0 && prog) {
+    argv[0] = prog;
   }
 
   /* ape intended behavior