diff --git a/man/kio_man.cpp b/man/kio_man.cpp
--- a/man/kio_man.cpp
+++ b/man/kio_man.cpp
@@ -571,8 +571,20 @@
       {
           qCDebug(KIO_MAN_LOG) << "not existing " << filename;
           QDir mandir(lastdir);
-          mandir.setNameFilters(QStringList() << (filename.mid(filename.lastIndexOf('/') + 1) + ".*"));
-          filename = lastdir + '/' + QFile::encodeName(mandir.entryList().first());
+          const QString nameFilter = filename.mid(filename.lastIndexOf('/') + 1) + ".*";
+          mandir.setNameFilters(QStringList(nameFilter));
+
+          const QStringList entries = mandir.entryList();
+          if (entries.isEmpty())
+          {
+              outputError(i18n("The specified man page referenced another page '%1',<br />"
+                               "but the referenced page '%2' could not be found.",
+                               QFile::decodeName(filename),
+                               QDir::cleanPath(lastdir + '/' + nameFilter)));
+              return 0;
+          }
+
+          filename = lastdir + '/' + QFile::encodeName(entries.first());
           qCDebug(KIO_MAN_LOG) << "resolved to " << filename;
       }
 
diff --git a/man/man2html.cpp b/man/man2html.cpp
--- a/man/man2html.cpp
+++ b/man/man2html.cpp
@@ -3995,6 +3995,24 @@
             h = name + 3;
           else
             h = name;
+
+          // The format of the argument to .so varies among man pages.
+          // Some of them, e.g. pam.8, use "PAM.8".  Others, e.g. telinit.8,
+          // use "man8/init.8".  So they are not always true relative paths,
+          // although the man(1) command seems to handle them with no problem.
+          //
+          // The code above starting "h = c - 3" attempts to turn the argument
+          // into a relative path, but that is not correct in the case of pam.8
+          // as above.  So this removes the "../" prefix again if there is
+          // no other slash following it.
+          char *firstSlash = strchr(h, '/');
+          if (firstSlash != 0)
+          {
+            char *nextSlash = strchr(firstSlash + 1, '/');
+            if (nextSlash == 0)
+              h = firstSlash + 1;
+          }
+
           /* this works alright, except for section 3 */
           buf = read_man_page(h);
           if (!buf)