diff --git a/man/runscript.8 b/man/runscript.8
index 64da26c7..2889970e 100644
--- a/man/runscript.8
+++ b/man/runscript.8
@@ -465,6 +465,12 @@ show()
 
 .Ed
 .Sh BUGS
+Because of the way we load our configuration files and the need to handle
+more than one service directory, you can only use symlinks in service
+directories to other services in the same directory.
+You cannot symlink to a service in a different directory even if it is
+another service directory.
+.Pp
 is_older_than should return 0 on success.
 Instead we return 1 to be compliant with Gentoo baselayout.
 Users are encouraged to use the is_newer_than function which returns correctly.
diff --git a/sh/runscript.sh.in b/sh/runscript.sh.in
index 4032cb84..07f96d84 100644
--- a/sh/runscript.sh.in
+++ b/sh/runscript.sh.in
@@ -16,23 +16,6 @@ sourcex()
 	fi
 }
 
-loadconfig()
-{
-	# If we're net.eth0 or openvpn.work then load net or openvpn config
-	_c=${RC_SVCNAME%%.*}
-	if [ -n "$_c" -a "$_c" != "$RC_SVCNAME" ]; then
-		if ! sourcex -e "$1/$_c.$RC_RUNLEVEL"; then
-			sourcex -e "$1/$_c"
-		fi
-	fi
-	unset _c
-
-	# Overlay with our specific config
-	if ! sourcex -e "$1/$RC_SVCNAME.$RC_RUNLEVEL"; then
-		sourcex -e "$1/$RC_SVCNAME"
-	fi
-}
-
 sourcex "@SYSCONFDIR@/init.d/functions.sh"
 sourcex "@LIBEXECDIR@/sh/rc-functions.sh"
 
@@ -195,9 +178,21 @@ status()
 
 yesno $RC_DEBUG && set -x
 
-if ! loadconfig "${RC_SERVICE%/*}/../conf.d"; then
-		loadconfig "@SYSCONFDIR@/conf.d"
+_conf_d=${RC_SERVICE%/*}/../conf.d
+# If we're net.eth0 or openvpn.work then load net or openvpn config
+_c=${RC_SVCNAME%%.*}
+if [ -n "$_c" -a "$_c" != "$RC_SVCNAME" ]; then
+	if ! sourcex -e "$_conf_d/$_c.$RC_RUNLEVEL"; then
+		sourcex -e "$_conf_d/$_c"
+	fi
 fi
+unset _c
+
+# Overlay with our specific config
+if ! sourcex -e "$_conf_d/$RC_SVCNAME.$RC_RUNLEVEL"; then
+	sourcex -e "$_conf_d/$RC_SVCNAME"
+fi
+unset _conf_d
 
 # Load any system overrides
 sourcex -e "@SYSCONFDIR@/rc.conf"
diff --git a/src/rc/runscript.c b/src/rc/runscript.c
index 33065004..b460cc3c 100644
--- a/src/rc/runscript.c
+++ b/src/rc/runscript.c
@@ -1100,7 +1100,8 @@ runscript(int argc, char **argv)
 	bool doneone = false;
 	int retval, opt, depoptions = RC_DEP_TRACE;
 	RC_STRING *svc;
-	char *save = NULL;
+	char path[PATH_MAX], lnk[PATH_MAX];
+	char *dir, *save = NULL, *saveLnk = NULL;
 	char pidstr[10];
 	size_t l = 0, ll;
 	struct stat stbuf;
@@ -1119,7 +1120,40 @@ runscript(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	atexit(cleanup);
 
-	service = xstrdup(argv[1]);
+	/* We need to work out the real full path to our service.
+	 * This works fine, provided that we ONLY allow multiplexed services
+	 * to exist in the same directory as the master link.
+	 * Also, the master link as to be a real file in the init dir. */
+	if (!realpath(argv[1], path)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "realpath: %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+	memset(lnk, 0, sizeof(lnk));
+	if (readlink(argv[1], lnk, sizeof(lnk)-1)) {
+		dir = dirname(path);
+		if (strchr(lnk, '/')) {
+			save = xstrdup(dir);
+			saveLnk = xstrdup(lnk);
+			dir = dirname(saveLnk);
+			if (strcmp(dir, save) == 0)
+				file = basename_c(argv[1]);
+			else
+				file = basename_c(lnk);
+			dir = save;
+		} else
+			file = basename_c(argv[1]);
+		ll = strlen(dir) + strlen(file) + 2;
+		service = xmalloc(ll);
+		snprintf(service, ll, "%s/%s", dir, file);
+		if (stat(service, &stbuf) != 0) {
+			free(service);
+			service = xstrdup(lnk);
+		}
+		free(save);
+		free(saveLnk);
+	}
+	if (!service)
+		service = xstrdup(path);
 	applet = basename_c(service);
 
 	if (argc < 3)