diff --git a/_test/cases/inc/init_fullpath.test.php b/_test/cases/inc/init_fullpath.test.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e2acc35a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_test/cases/inc/init_fullpath.test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+<?php
+require_once DOKU_INC.'inc/init.php';
+
+class init_fullpath_test extends UnitTestCase {
+
+    function test_unix_paths(){
+        $base = $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'];
+        $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = '/absolute/path/self.php';
+        $GLOBALS['DOKU_UNITTEST_ASSUME_WINDOWS'] = false;
+
+        // paths to check
+        $tests = array(
+                        '/foo/bar/baz' => '/foo/bar/baz',
+                        '/foo//bar/baz' => '/foo/bar/baz',
+                        '/foo/../bar/baz' => '/bar/baz',
+                        '/foo/./bar/baz' => '/foo/bar/baz',
+                        '/foo/bar/..' => '/foo',
+                        '/foo/bar/../../../baz' => '/baz',
+
+                        'foo/bar/baz' => '/absolute/path/foo/bar/baz',
+                        'foo//bar/baz' => '/absolute/path/foo/bar/baz',
+                        'foo/../bar/baz' => '/absolute/path/bar/baz',
+                        'foo/./bar/baz' => '/absolute/path/foo/bar/baz',
+                        'foo/bar/..' => '/absolute/path/foo',
+                        'foo/bar/../../../baz' => '/absolute/baz',
+                      );
+
+        foreach($tests as $from => $to){
+            $info = "Testing '$from' resulted in '".fullpath($from)."'";
+            $this->signal('failinfo',$info);
+
+            $this->assertEqual(fullpath($from),$to);
+        }
+
+
+        $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = $base;
+        unset($GLOBALS['DOKU_UNITTEST_ASSUME_WINDOWS']);
+    }
+
+    function test_windows_paths(){
+        $base = $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'];
+        $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = '/absolute/path/self.php';
+        $GLOBALS['DOKU_UNITTEST_ASSUME_WINDOWS'] = true;
+
+        // paths to check
+        $tests = array(
+                        'c:foo/bar/baz' => 'c:foo/bar/baz',
+                        'c:foo//bar/baz' => 'c:foo/bar/baz',
+                        'c:foo/../bar/baz' => 'c:bar/baz',
+                        'c:foo/./bar/baz' => 'c:foo/bar/baz',
+                        'c:foo/bar/..' => 'c:foo',
+                        'c:foo/bar/../../../baz' => 'c:baz',
+
+                        '\\\\server\\share/foo/bar/baz' => '\\\\server\\share/foo/bar/baz',
+                        '\\\\server\\share/foo//bar/baz' => '\\\\server\\share/foo/bar/baz',
+                        '\\\\server\\share/foo/../bar/baz' => '\\\\server\\share/bar/baz',
+                        '\\\\server\\share/foo/./bar/baz' => '\\\\server\\share/foo/bar/baz',
+                        '\\\\server\\share/foo/bar/..' => '\\\\server\\share/foo',
+                        '\\\\server\\share/foo/bar/../../../baz' => '\\\\server\\share/baz',
+                      );
+
+        foreach($tests as $from => $to){
+            $info = "Testing '$from' resulted in '".fullpath($from)."'";
+            $this->signal('failinfo',$info);
+
+            $this->assertEqual(fullpath($from),$to);
+        }
+
+
+        $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = $base;
+        unset($GLOBALS['DOKU_UNITTEST_ASSUME_WINDOWS']);
+    }
+
+}
+//Setup VIM: ex: et ts=4 enc=utf-8 :
diff --git a/_test/runtests.php b/_test/runtests.php
index e3489b4cf..c4a4f36b4 100755
--- a/_test/runtests.php
+++ b/_test/runtests.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 <?php
 ini_set('memory_limit','128M');
 if(!defined('DOKU_INC')) define('DOKU_INC',realpath(dirname(__FILE__).'/../').'/');
+define('DOKU_UNITTEST',true);
 
 require_once(DOKU_INC.'inc/init.php');
 require_once(DOKU_INC.'inc/events.php');
diff --git a/inc/init.php b/inc/init.php
index 5277206f6..def5d7997 100644
--- a/inc/init.php
+++ b/inc/init.php
@@ -42,14 +42,12 @@
 
   //prepare config array()
   global $conf;
-  if (!defined('DOKU_UNITTEST')) {
-    $conf = array();
+  $conf = array();
 
-    // load the config file(s)
-    require_once(DOKU_CONF.'dokuwiki.php');
-    if(@file_exists(DOKU_CONF.'local.php')){
-      require_once(DOKU_CONF.'local.php');
-    }
+  // load the config file(s)
+  require_once(DOKU_CONF.'dokuwiki.php');
+  if(@file_exists(DOKU_CONF.'local.php')){
+    require_once(DOKU_CONF.'local.php');
   }
 
   //prepare language array
@@ -443,22 +441,40 @@ EOT;
  * This function behaves similar to PHP's realpath() but does not resolve
  * symlinks or accesses upper directories
  *
+ * @author Andreas Gohr <andi@splitbrain.org>
  * @author <richpageau at yahoo dot co dot uk>
  * @link   http://de3.php.net/manual/en/function.realpath.php#75992
  */
 function fullpath($path){
-    $iswin = (strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'WIN');
-    $isunc = 0===strpos($path,'\\\\');
-    if($iswin) $path = str_replace('\\','/',$path); // windows compatibility
+    static $run = 0; 
+    $root  = '';
+    $iswin = (strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'WIN' || $GLOBALS['DOKU_UNITTEST_ASSUME_WINDOWS']);
 
-    // check if path begins with "/" or "c:" ie. is absolute
-    // if it isnt concat with script path
-    if (!$isunc && 
-        ((!$iswin && $path{0} !== '/') ||
-         ($iswin && $path{1} !== ':'))) {
-        $base=dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']);
-        $path=$base."/".$path;
+    // find the (indestructable) root of the path - keeps windows stuff intact
+    if($path{0} == '/'){
+        $root = '/';
+    }elseif($iswin){
+        // match drive letter and UNC paths
+        if(preg_match('!^([a-zA-z]:)(.*)!',$path,$match)){
+            $root = $match[1];
+            $path = $match[2];
+        }else if(preg_match('!^(\\\\\\\\[^\\\\/]+\\\\[^\\\\/]+[\\\\/])(.*)!',$path,$match)){
+            $root = $match[1];
+            $path = $match[2];
+        }
     }
+    $path = str_replace('\\','/',$path);
+
+    // if the given path wasn't absolute already, prepend the script path and retry
+    if(!$root){
+        $base = dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']);
+        $path = $base.'/'.$path;
+        if($run == 0){ // avoid endless recursion when base isn't absolute for some reason
+            $run++;
+            return fullpath($path,1);
+        }
+    }
+    $run = 0;
 
     // canonicalize
     $path=explode('/', $path);
@@ -471,15 +487,13 @@ function fullpath($path){
         }
         array_push($newpath, $p);
     }
-    $finalpath = implode('/', $newpath);
-    if($isunc) $finalpath = '//'.$finalpath;
-    if(!$iswin) $finalpath = '/'.$finalpath;
+    $finalpath = $root.implode('/', $newpath);
 
-    // check then return valid path or filename
-    if (@file_exists($finalpath)) {
-        return ($finalpath);
+    // check for existance (except when unit testing)
+    if(!defined('DOKU_UNITTEST') && !@file_exists($finalpath)) {
+        return false;
     }
-    else return false;
+    return $finalpath;
 }