diff --git a/init/eessi_archdetect.sh b/init/eessi_archdetect.sh
index 4dd2436cc1..3f0adf6938 100755
--- a/init/eessi_archdetect.sh
+++ b/init/eessi_archdetect.sh
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ cpupath(){
         *) log "ERROR" "cpupath: Unsupported CPU architecture $machine_type"
     esac
     # spec files are located in a subfolder with this script
-    local base_dir=$(dirname $(realpath $0))
+    local base_dir=$(dirname $(readlink -f $0))
     update_arch_specs "$base_dir/arch_specs/${spec_file}"
   
     # Identify the host CPU vendor
diff --git a/init/eessi_environment_variables b/init/eessi_environment_variables
index 784dd6c13c..933826011a 100644
--- a/init/eessi_environment_variables
+++ b/init/eessi_environment_variables
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # this script is *sourced*, not executed, so can't rely on $0 to determine path to self
 # $BASH_SOURCE points to correct path, see also http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/028
-EESSI_INIT_DIR_PATH=$(dirname $(realpath $BASH_SOURCE))
+EESSI_INIT_DIR_PATH=$(dirname $(readlink -f $BASH_SOURCE))
 
 function error() {
     echo -e "\e[31mERROR: $1\e[0m" >&2
diff --git a/init/minimal_eessi_env b/init/minimal_eessi_env
index f938d1dd10..8dff836f90 100644
--- a/init/minimal_eessi_env
+++ b/init/minimal_eessi_env
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # this script is *sourced*, not executed, so can't rely on $0 to determine path to self
 # $BASH_SOURCE points to correct path, see also http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/028
-EESSI_INIT_DIR_PATH=$(dirname $(realpath $BASH_SOURCE))
+EESSI_INIT_DIR_PATH=$(dirname $(readlink -f $BASH_SOURCE))
 
 # set up defaults: EESSI_CVMFS_REPO, EESSI_VERSION
 #   script takes *_OVERRIDEs into account