diff --git a/mercurial/rcutil.py b/mercurial/rcutil.py
index 97d79f247b..d696c598b7 100644
--- a/mercurial/rcutil.py
+++ b/mercurial/rcutil.py
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ def editconfig(path, section, name, value):
     Try to edit the config in-place without breaking config file syntax for
     simple cases. Fallback to just append the new config.
     """
+    path = os.path.realpath(path)
     content = ''
     try:
         content = util.readfile(path)