diff --git a/Source/cmGetFilenameComponentCommand.cxx b/Source/cmGetFilenameComponentCommand.cxx
index 6ca5930958..febece0653 100644
--- a/Source/cmGetFilenameComponentCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGetFilenameComponentCommand.cxx
@@ -107,9 +107,15 @@ bool cmGetFilenameComponentCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
         }
       }
     }
-    // Collapse the path to its simplest form.
-    result = cmSystemTools::CollapseFullPath(filename, baseDir);
-    if (args[2] == "REALPATH") {
+    if (args[2] == "ABSOLUTE") {
+      // Collapse the path to its simplest form.
+      result = cmSystemTools::CollapseFullPath(filename, baseDir);
+    } else {
+      // Convert relative paths to absolute paths
+      result = filename;
+      if (!cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(result)) {
+        result = cmStrCat(baseDir, '/', result);
+      }
       // Resolve symlinks if possible
       result = cmSystemTools::GetRealPath(result);
     }
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/get_filename_component/KnownComponents.cmake b/Tests/RunCMake/get_filename_component/KnownComponents.cmake
index 34af12eb04..93f9270faf 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/get_filename_component/KnownComponents.cmake
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/get_filename_component/KnownComponents.cmake
@@ -159,3 +159,11 @@ foreach(thisVar ${non_cache_vars})
     message(SEND_ERROR "${thisVar} not found in regular variable list.")
   endif()
 endforeach()
+
+if(UNIX)
+  file(MAKE_DIRECTORY . "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/subdir")
+  file(CREATE_LINK . "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/subdir/symlink-to-dot" SYMBOLIC)
+  get_filename_component(realpath_actual "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/subdir/symlink-to-dot/.." REALPATH)
+  get_filename_component(realpath_expect "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}" REALPATH)
+  check("symlink parent" "${realpath_actual}" "${realpath_expect}")
+endif(UNIX)