diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index f7acf3a4bc..084b1aa2a5 100644
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -7050,3 +7050,11 @@ David  26 Nov 2012
 
     html/ops/
         revalidate.php
+
+David  27 Nov 2012
+    - server programs: allow config.xml to be a symlink
+
+    lib/
+        filesys.cpp,h
+    sched/
+        sched_config.cpp
diff --git a/lib/filesys.cpp b/lib/filesys.cpp
index 5a4aa8c483..84b4767011 100644
--- a/lib/filesys.cpp
+++ b/lib/filesys.cpp
@@ -106,13 +106,20 @@ int is_dir(const char* path) {
     return (!retval && (((sbuf.st_mode) & S_IFMT) == S_IFDIR));
 }
 
+#ifndef _WIN32
+
+int is_file_follow_symlinks(const char* path) {
+    struct stat sbuf;
+    int retval = stat(path, &sbuf);
+    return (!retval && (((sbuf.st_mode) & S_IFMT) == S_IFREG));
+}
+
 int is_dir_follow_symlinks(const char* path) {
     struct stat sbuf;
     int retval = stat(path, &sbuf);
     return (!retval && (((sbuf.st_mode) & S_IFMT) == S_IFDIR));
 }
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
 int is_symlink(const char* path) {
     struct stat sbuf;
     int retval = lstat(path, &sbuf);
diff --git a/lib/filesys.h b/lib/filesys.h
index 86e22d8395..1dcd27ed2d 100644
--- a/lib/filesys.h
+++ b/lib/filesys.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ extern "C" {
   extern char boinc_failed_file[MAXPATHLEN];
   extern int is_file(const char* path);
   extern int is_dir(const char* path);
+  extern int is_file_follow_symlinks(const char* path);
   extern int is_dir_follow_symlinks(const char* path);
   extern int is_symlink(const char* path);
   extern int boinc_truncate(const char*, double);
diff --git a/sched/sched_config.cpp b/sched/sched_config.cpp
index 2c54bdbb21..6b08bab8c1 100644
--- a/sched/sched_config.cpp
+++ b/sched/sched_config.cpp
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ int SCHED_CONFIG::download_path(const char* filename, char* path) {
 static bool is_project_dir(const char* dir) {
     char buf[1024];
     sprintf(buf, "%s/%s", dir, CONFIG_FILE);
-    if (!is_file(buf)) return false;
+    if (!is_file_follow_symlinks(buf)) return false;
     sprintf(buf, "%s/cgi-bin", dir);
     if (!is_dir_follow_symlinks(buf)) return false;
     return true;