diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index eb28c263..3c9bb542 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ xbps-0.44 (???):
  * xbps-pkgdb(8): this now uses the code from libxbps to check the target file
    of symlinks. This fixes some false positives with symlinks.
 
- * xbps-create(8): properly detect target of relative symlinks in some cases.
+ * xbps-create(8): relative target file of symlinks aren't converted to absolute
+   anymore. This just stores what the symlink points to, does not matter if
+   it's relative or absolute path.
 
  * libxbps: make sure that symlinks with relative target are detected and removed
    properly. Fix #78: https://github.com/voidlinux/xbps/issues/78
diff --git a/bin/xbps-create/main.c b/bin/xbps-create/main.c
index e089700d..8c47bc64 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-create/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-create/main.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*-
- * Copyright (c) 2012-2014 Juan Romero Pardines.
+ * Copyright (c) 2012-2015 Juan Romero Pardines.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -234,8 +234,6 @@ ftw_cb(const char *fpath, const struct stat *sb, int type, struct FTW *ftwbuf _u
 {
 	struct xentry *xe = NULL;
 	const char *filep = NULL;
-	char *buf, *p, *p2, *dname;
-	ssize_t r;
 
 	/* Ignore metadata files generated by xbps-src and destdir */
 	if ((strcmp(fpath, ".") == 0) ||
@@ -272,50 +270,10 @@ ftw_cb(const char *fpath, const struct stat *sb, int type, struct FTW *ftwbuf _u
 		 */
 		xe->type = strdup("links");
 		assert(xe->type);
-		buf = malloc(sb->st_size+1);
-		assert(buf);
-		r = readlink(fpath, buf, sb->st_size+1);
-		if (r < 0 || r > sb->st_size)
+		xe->target = xbps_symlink_target(fpath);
+		if (xe->target == NULL)
 			die("failed to process symlink %s:", fpath);
 
-		buf[sb->st_size] = '\0';
-		/*
-		 * Check if symlink is absolute or relative; on the former
-		 * make it absolute for the target object.
-		 */
-		if (strstr(buf, "./")) {
-			p = realpath(fpath, NULL);
-			if (p == NULL) {
-				/*
-				 * This symlink points to an unexistent file,
-				 * which might be provided in another package.
-				 * So let's use the same target.
-				 */
-				xe->target = strdup(buf);
-			} else {
-				/*
-				 * Sanitize destdir just in case.
-				 */
-				if ((p2 = realpath(destdir, NULL)) == NULL)
-					die("failed to sanitize destdir %s: %s", destdir, strerror(errno));
-
-				xe->target = strdup(p+strlen(p2));
-				free(p2);
-				free(p);
-			}
-		} else if (buf[0] != '/') {
-			/* relative path */
-			p = strdup(filep);
-			assert(p);
-			dname = dirname(p);
-			assert(dname);
-			xe->target = xbps_xasprintf("%s/%s", dname, buf);
-			free(p);
-		} else {
-			xe->target = strdup(buf);
-		}
-		assert(xe->target);
-		free(buf);
 	} else if (type == FTW_F) {
 		struct xentry *xep;
 		bool hlink = false;
diff --git a/bin/xbps-pkgdb/check_pkg_symlinks.c b/bin/xbps-pkgdb/check_pkg_symlinks.c
index 1bbbad93..94c758d4 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-pkgdb/check_pkg_symlinks.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-pkgdb/check_pkg_symlinks.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ check_pkg_symlinks(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *pkgname, void *arg)
 			continue;
 		}
 		snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s/%s", xhp->rootdir, file);
-		if ((lnk = xbps_symlink_target(xhp, path, tgt)) == NULL) {
+		if ((lnk = xbps_symlink_target(path)) == NULL) {
 			xbps_error_printf("%s: broken symlink %s (target: %s)\n", pkgname, file, tgt);
 			broken = true;
 			continue;
diff --git a/include/xbps.h.in b/include/xbps.h.in
index 23dea55b..12775a47 100644
--- a/include/xbps.h.in
+++ b/include/xbps.h.in
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
  *
  * This header documents the full API for the XBPS Library.
  */
-#define XBPS_API_VERSION	"20150219-1"
+#define XBPS_API_VERSION	"20150219-2"
 
 #ifndef XBPS_VERSION
  #define XBPS_VERSION		"UNSET"
@@ -1945,17 +1945,14 @@ char *xbps_pubkey2fp(struct xbps_handle *xhp, xbps_data_t pubkey);
 char *xbps_sanitize_path(const char *src);
 
 /**
- * Returns a sanitized target file of \a path without the rootdir component.
+ * Returns the target file of the symlink \a symlink.
  *
- * @param[in] xhp The pointer to an xbps_handle struct.
- * @param[in] path path component.
- * @param[in] target The stored target file of a symlink.
+ * @param[in] symlink The path to a symlink.
  *
- * @return The sanitized path in a buffer.
+ * @return The target file in a buffer.
  * The returned buffer must be free(3)d when it's no longer necessary.
  */
-char *xbps_symlink_target(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *path,
-		const char *target);
+char *xbps_symlink_target(const char *symlink);
 
 /*@}*/
 
diff --git a/lib/package_remove.c b/lib/package_remove.c
index fff1c9d3..4fdfc6f2 100644
--- a/lib/package_remove.c
+++ b/lib/package_remove.c
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ remove_pkg_files(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 
 			xbps_dictionary_get_cstring_nocopy(obj, "target", &target);
 			assert(target);
-			lnk = xbps_symlink_target(xhp, path, target);
+			lnk = xbps_symlink_target(path);
 			if (lnk == NULL) {
 				xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "[remove] %s "
 				    "symlink_target: %s\n", path, strerror(errno));
diff --git a/lib/util.c b/lib/util.c
index 066d0a7c..e9f84324 100644
--- a/lib/util.c
+++ b/lib/util.c
@@ -454,10 +454,10 @@ xbps_sanitize_path(const char *src)
 }
 
 char *
-xbps_symlink_target(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *path, const char *tgt)
+xbps_symlink_target(const char *path)
 {
 	struct stat sb;
-	char *p, *p1, *dname, *res = NULL, *lnk = NULL;
+	char *lnk = NULL;
 	ssize_t r;
 
 	if (lstat(path, &sb) == -1)
@@ -472,47 +472,5 @@ xbps_symlink_target(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *path, const char *tgt)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	lnk[sb.st_size] = '\0';
-
-	if (tgt[0] != '/') {
-		/*
-		 * target file is relative and wasn't converted to absolute by
-		 * xbps-create(8), just compare it as is.
-		 */
-		return lnk;
-	}
-
-	if (strstr(lnk, "./") || lnk[0] != '/') {
-		/* relative */
-		p = strdup(path);
-		assert(p);
-		dname = dirname(p);
-		assert(dname);
-		p = xbps_xasprintf("%s/%s", dname, lnk);
-		assert(p);
-		p1 = xbps_sanitize_path(p);
-		assert(p1);
-		free(p);
-		if ((strstr(p1, "./")) && (p = realpath(p1, NULL))) {
-			if (strcmp(xhp->rootdir, "/") == 0)
-				res = strdup(p);
-			else
-				res = strdup(p + strlen(xhp->rootdir));
-
-			free(p);
-		}
-		if (res == NULL) {
-			if (strcmp(xhp->rootdir, "/") == 0)
-				res = strdup(p1);
-			else
-				res = strdup(p1 + strlen(xhp->rootdir));
-		}
-		assert(res);
-		free(lnk);
-		free(p1);
-	} else {
-		/* absolute */
-		res = lnk;
-	}
-
-	return res;
+	return lnk;
 }
diff --git a/tests/xbps/xbps-create/basic_test.sh b/tests/xbps/xbps-create/basic_test.sh
index 34600889..493d6e24 100644
--- a/tests/xbps/xbps-create/basic_test.sh
+++ b/tests/xbps/xbps-create/basic_test.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ hardlinks_size_body() {
 atf_test_case symlink_relative_target
 
 symlink_relative_target_head() {
-	atf_set "descr" "xbps-create(8): relative symlinks in destdir must be absolute"
+	atf_set "descr" "xbps-create(8): relative symlinks in destdir"
 }
 
 symlink_relative_target_body() {
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ symlink_relative_target_body() {
 	xbps-rindex -d -a repo/*.xbps
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
 	result="$(xbps-query -r root --repository=repo -f foo|tr -d '\n')"
-	expected="/usr/include/gsm/gsm.h/usr/include/gsm.h -> /usr/include/gsm/gsm.h"
+	expected="/usr/include/gsm/gsm.h/usr/include/gsm.h -> gsm/gsm.h"
 	rv=0
 	if [ "$result" != "$expected" ]; then
 		echo "result: $result"
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ symlink_relative_target_body() {
 atf_test_case symlink_relative_target_cwd
 
 symlink_relative_target_cwd_head() {
-	atf_set "descr" "xbps-create(8): relative symlinks to cwd in destdir must be absolute"
+	atf_set "descr" "xbps-create(8): relative symlinks to cwd in destdir"
 }
 
 symlink_relative_target_cwd_body() {
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ symlink_relative_target_cwd_body() {
 	xbps-rindex -d -a repo/*.xbps
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
 	result="$(xbps-query -r root --repository=repo -f foo|tr -d '\n')"
-	expected="/usr/include/gsm/gsm.h/usr/include/gsm.h -> /usr/include/gsm/gsm.h"
+	expected="/usr/include/gsm/gsm.h/usr/include/gsm.h -> ./gsm/gsm.h"
 	rv=0
 	if [ "$result" != "$expected" ]; then
 		echo "result: $result"