Index: kdevplatform/util/path.cpp
===================================================================
--- kdevplatform/util/path.cpp
+++ kdevplatform/util/path.cpp
@@ -23,10 +23,13 @@
 #include "path.h"
 
 #include <QStringList>
+#include <QFileInfo>
 #include <QDebug>
 
 #include <language/util/kdevhash.h>
 
+#include "util/debug.h"
+
 using namespace KDevelop;
 
 namespace {
@@ -397,13 +400,48 @@
     return list;
 }
 
+// determine an appropriate canonical representation of @p path
+// or return the path unchanged if it doesn't correspond to an
+// existing file or directory.
+// For directories, resolve all and any symlinks using QFileInfo::canonicalFilePath()
+// For files, resolve all symlinks in the path but leave the file untouched;
+// this allows preserving fully specified executable paths where the executable
+// is a symlink - the target application might check the name under which it's
+// invoked to modify its behaviour.
+static QString toCanonicalPath(const QString &path)
+{
+    const QFileInfo info(path);
+    if (info.exists()) {
+        if (info.isDir()) {
+            // the simple case: just resolve all symlinks in the entire path
+            return info.canonicalFilePath();
+        } else {
+            // resolve the symlinks in the path to the file, and reappend the filename
+            return toCanonicalPath(info.absolutePath()) + QStringLiteral("/") + info.fileName();
+        }
+    }
+    // don't attempt anything on non-existing files, it will fail
+    return path;
+}
+
 void Path::addPath(const QString& path)
 {
     if (path.isEmpty()) {
         return;
     }
 
-    const auto& newData = splitPath(path);
+    // convert local paths to canonical if not adding it to an existing path
+    const bool convertToCanonical = m_data.isEmpty() && path.startsWith(QLatin1Char('/'));
+    // Use QFileInfo::canonicalPath() to resolve any symlinks on the path, but not the
+    // final element (filename). This returns an empty string when path doesn't exist
+    // so we need to check the result.
+    const QString canonicalPath = convertToCanonical ? toCanonicalPath(path) : QString();
+    if (UTIL().isDebugEnabled()) {
+        if (!canonicalPath.isEmpty() && canonicalPath != path) {
+            qCDebug(UTIL) << QStringLiteral("Path::addPath(%1): adding canonical form %2").arg(path).arg(canonicalPath);
+        }
+    }
+    const auto& newData = splitPath(canonicalPath.isEmpty() ? path : canonicalPath);
     if (newData.isEmpty()) {
         if (m_data.size() == (isRemote() ? 1 : 0)) {
             // this represents the root path, we just turned an invalid path into it
@@ -421,6 +459,21 @@
 
     std::copy(it, newData.end(), std::back_inserter(m_data));
     cleanPath(&m_data, isRemote());
+    // convert the concatenated result to canonical if local
+    // can surely be done in a more efficient manner
+    if (canonicalPath.isEmpty() && isLocalFile()) {
+        Path temp;
+        const QString newPath = generatePathOrUrl(true, true, m_data);
+        // using the default Path ctor is the fastest and easiest way
+        // to call ourselves with a fresh temporary m_data instance
+        temp.addPath(toCanonicalPath(newPath));
+        if (!temp.m_data.isEmpty() && m_data != temp.m_data) {
+            if (UTIL().isDebugEnabled()) {
+                qCDebug(UTIL) << "Path::addPath(): new path is" << temp << "instead of" << newPath;
+            }
+            m_data = temp.m_data;
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 Path Path::parent() const