diff --git a/src/desktop/unity-lens-recoll/recollscope/rclsearch.py b/src/desktop/unity-lens-recoll/recollscope/rclsearch.py
index 50caec4a..ae4766d2 100755
--- a/src/desktop/unity-lens-recoll/recollscope/rclsearch.py
+++ b/src/desktop/unity-lens-recoll/recollscope/rclsearch.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ def _get_thumbnail_path(url):
 # Icon names for some recoll mime types which don't have standard icon by the
 # normal method
 SPEC_MIME_ICONS = {'application/x-fsdirectory' : 'gnome-fs-directory.svg',
+                   'inode/directory' : 'gnome-fs-directory.svg',
                    'message/rfc822' : 'mail-read',
                    'application/x-recoll' : 'recoll'}
 
diff --git a/src/index/fsfetcher.cpp b/src/index/fsfetcher.cpp
index cc809d86..f1dc6f13 100644
--- a/src/index/fsfetcher.cpp
+++ b/src/index/fsfetcher.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
 
 using std::string;
 
-static bool urltopath(const Rcl::Doc& idoc, string& fn, struct stat& st)
+static bool urltopath(RclConfig* cnf,
+		      const Rcl::Doc& idoc, string& fn, struct stat& st)
 {
     // The url has to be like file://
     if (idoc.url.find(cstr_fileu) != 0) {
@@ -40,7 +41,11 @@ static bool urltopath(const Rcl::Doc& idoc, string& fn, struct stat& st)
 	return false;
     }
     fn = idoc.url.substr(7, string::npos);
-    if (stat(fn.c_str(), &st) < 0) {
+    cnf->setKeyDir(path_getfather(fn));
+    bool follow = false;
+    cnf->getConfParam("followLinks", &follow);
+
+    if ((follow ? stat(fn.c_str(), &st) : lstat(fn.c_str(), &st))< 0) {
 	LOGERR(("FSDocFetcher::fetch: stat errno %d for [%s]\n", 
 		errno, fn.c_str()));
 	return false;
@@ -51,7 +56,7 @@ static bool urltopath(const Rcl::Doc& idoc, string& fn, struct stat& st)
 bool FSDocFetcher::fetch(RclConfig* cnf, const Rcl::Doc& idoc, RawDoc& out)
 {
     string fn;
-    if (!urltopath(idoc, fn, out.st))
+    if (!urltopath(cnf, idoc, fn, out.st))
 	return false;
     out.kind = RawDoc::RDK_FILENAME;
     out.data = fn;
@@ -62,7 +67,7 @@ bool FSDocFetcher::makesig(RclConfig* cnf, const Rcl::Doc& idoc, string& sig)
 {
     string fn;
     struct stat st;
-    if (!urltopath(idoc, fn, st))
+    if (!urltopath(cnf, idoc, fn, st))
 	return false;
     FsIndexer::makesig(&st, sig);
     return true;
diff --git a/src/index/fsindexer.h b/src/index/fsindexer.h
index 37dd0798..ad561562 100644
--- a/src/index/fsindexer.h
+++ b/src/index/fsindexer.h
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 #ifndef _fsindexer_h_included_
 #define _fsindexer_h_included_
 
-#include <sys/stat.h>
-
 #include <list>
 
 #include "indexer.h"
diff --git a/src/index/mimetype.cpp b/src/index/mimetype.cpp
index 508a4385..be4c8999 100644
--- a/src/index/mimetype.cpp
+++ b/src/index/mimetype.cpp
@@ -122,9 +122,11 @@ string mimetype(const string &fn, const struct stat *stp,
 	// 'mime:' filter with the query language, but it's not work
 	// changing (would force a reindex).
 	if (S_ISDIR(stp->st_mode))
-	    return "application/x-fsdirectory";
+	    return "inode/directory";
+	if (S_ISLNK(stp->st_mode))
+	    return "inode/symlink";
 	if (!S_ISREG(stp->st_mode))
-	    return "application/x-fsspecial";
+	    return "inode/x-fsspecial";
     }
 
     string mtype;
@@ -191,7 +193,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
     while (--argc > 0) {
 	string filename = *++argv;
 	struct stat st;
-	if (stat(filename.c_str(), &st)) {
+	if (lstat(filename.c_str(), &st)) {
 	    fprintf(stderr, "Can't stat %s\n", filename.c_str());
 	    continue;
 	}
diff --git a/src/internfile/mh_symlink.h b/src/internfile/mh_symlink.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8ce2dbea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/internfile/mh_symlink.h
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/* Copyright (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *   (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *   along with this program; if not, write to the
+ *   Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ *   59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+#ifndef _MH_SYMLINK_H_INCLUDED_
+#define _MH_SYMLINK_H_INCLUDED_
+
+#include <string>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#include "cstr.h"
+#include "mimehandler.h"
+#include "transcode.h"
+#include "pathut.h"
+#include "debuglog.h"
+
+/** Index symlink target 
+ *
+ * Not sure that this is such a good idea, so it's disabled by default in
+ * the config. Add inode/symlink = internal to the index section of mimeconf 
+ * to enable.
+ */
+class MimeHandlerSymlink : public RecollFilter {
+ public:
+    MimeHandlerSymlink(RclConfig *cnf, const std::string& mt) 
+	: RecollFilter(cnf, mt) {}
+    virtual ~MimeHandlerSymlink() {}
+    virtual bool set_document_file(const string& fn) 
+    {
+	RecollFilter::set_document_file(fn);
+	m_fn = fn;
+	return m_havedoc = true;
+    }
+    virtual bool next_document() 
+    {
+	if (m_havedoc == false)
+	    return false;
+	m_havedoc = false; 
+	m_metaData[cstr_dj_keycontent] = cstr_null;
+	char lc[1024];
+	ssize_t bytes = readlink(m_fn.c_str(), lc, 1024);
+	if (bytes != (ssize_t)-1) {
+	    string slc(lc, bytes);
+	    transcode(path_getsimple(slc), m_metaData[cstr_dj_keycontent], 
+		      m_config->getDefCharset(true), "UTF-8");
+	} else {
+	    LOGDEB(("Symlink: readlink [%s] failed, errno %d\n", m_fn.c_str(),
+		    errno));
+	}
+	m_metaData[cstr_dj_keymt] = cstr_textplain;
+	return true;
+    }
+private:
+    std::string m_fn;
+};
+
+#endif /* _MH_SYMLINK_H_INCLUDED_ */
diff --git a/src/internfile/mimehandler.cpp b/src/internfile/mimehandler.cpp
index 61a9d514..5f33e759 100644
--- a/src/internfile/mimehandler.cpp
+++ b/src/internfile/mimehandler.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ using namespace std;
 #include "mh_mail.h"
 #include "mh_mbox.h"
 #include "mh_text.h"
+#include "mh_symlink.h"
 #include "mh_unknown.h"
 #include "ptmutex.h"
 
@@ -148,6 +149,9 @@ static Dijon::Filter *mhFactory(RclConfig *config, const string &mime)
     } else if ("message/rfc822" == lmime) {
 	LOGDEB2(("mhFactory(%s): returning MimeHandlerMail\n", mime.c_str()));
 	return new MimeHandlerMail(config, lmime);
+    } else if ("inode/symlink" == lmime) {
+	LOGDEB2(("mhFactory(%s): ret MimeHandlerSymlink\n", mime.c_str()));
+	return new MimeHandlerSymlink(config, lmime);
     } else if (lmime.find("text/") == 0) {
         // Try to handle unknown text/xx as text/plain. This
         // only happen if the text/xx was defined as "internal" in
diff --git a/src/kde/kioslave/kio_recoll/dirif.cpp b/src/kde/kioslave/kio_recoll/dirif.cpp
index 29afe7fb..447e7f7b 100644
--- a/src/kde/kioslave/kio_recoll/dirif.cpp
+++ b/src/kde/kioslave/kio_recoll/dirif.cpp
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ static const UDSEntry resultToUDSEntry(const Rcl::Doc& doc, int num)
     char cnum[30];sprintf(cnum, "%04d", num);
     entry.insert(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_NAME, resultBaseName + cnum);
 
-    if (!doc.mimetype.compare("application/x-fsdirectory")) {
+    if (!doc.mimetype.compare("application/x-fsdirectory") || 
+	!doc.mimetype.compare("inode/directory")) {
 	entry.insert(KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_MIME_TYPE, "inode/directory");
     	entry.insert( KIO::UDSEntry::UDS_FILE_TYPE, S_IFDIR);
     } else {
diff --git a/src/qtgui/mtpics/emblem-symbolic-link.png b/src/qtgui/mtpics/emblem-symbolic-link.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f35b79e
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/qtgui/mtpics/emblem-symbolic-link.png differ
diff --git a/src/qtgui/reslist.cpp b/src/qtgui/reslist.cpp
index 21e12249..e639fa0f 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/reslist.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/reslist.cpp
@@ -1019,7 +1019,7 @@ void ResList::menuPreviewParent()
 	// No parent doc: show enclosing folder with app configured for
 	// directories
 	pdoc.url = path_getfather(doc.url);
-	pdoc.mimetype = "application/x-fsdirectory";
+	pdoc.mimetype = "inode/directory";
 	emit editRequested(pdoc);
     }
 }
@@ -1038,7 +1038,7 @@ void ResList::menuOpenParent()
 	pdoc.url = path_getfather(doc.url);
 	pdoc.meta[Rcl::Doc::keychildurl] = doc.url;
 	pdoc.meta[Rcl::Doc::keyapptg] = "parentopen";
-	pdoc.mimetype = "application/x-fsdirectory";
+	pdoc.mimetype = "inode/directory";
 	emit editRequested(pdoc);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/qtgui/restable.cpp b/src/qtgui/restable.cpp
index 9c68a408..baa1a2b0 100644
--- a/src/qtgui/restable.cpp
+++ b/src/qtgui/restable.cpp
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ void ResTable::menuPreviewParent()
 	pdoc.url = path_getfather(doc.url);
 	pdoc.meta[Rcl::Doc::keychildurl] = doc.url;
 	pdoc.meta[Rcl::Doc::keyapptg] = "parentopen";
-	pdoc.mimetype = "application/x-fsdirectory";
+	pdoc.mimetype = "inode/directory";
 	emit editRequested(pdoc);
     }
 }
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ void ResTable::menuOpenParent()
 	pdoc.url = path_getfather(doc.url);
 	pdoc.meta[Rcl::Doc::keychildurl] = doc.url;
 	pdoc.meta[Rcl::Doc::keyapptg] = "parentopen";
-	pdoc.mimetype = "application/x-fsdirectory";
+	pdoc.mimetype = "inode/directory";
 	emit editRequested(pdoc);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/sampleconf/mimeconf b/src/sampleconf/mimeconf
index 598ae6d8..2e67f545 100644
--- a/src/sampleconf/mimeconf
+++ b/src/sampleconf/mimeconf
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ image/tiff = execm rclimg
 image/vnd.djvu = exec rcldjvu
 image/svg+xml = exec rclsvg
 image/x-xcf = execm rclimg
+inode/symlink = internal
 message/rfc822 = internal
 text/calendar = execm rclics;mimetype=text/plain
 text/html  = internal 
@@ -212,6 +213,8 @@ image/tiff = image
 image/vnd.djvu = document
 image/x-xcf = image
 image/x-xpmi = image
+inode/directory = folder
+inode/symlink = emblem-symbolic-link
 message/rfc822 = message
 text/html = html
 text/html|chm = bookchap
@@ -340,6 +343,8 @@ other = application/vnd.sun.xml.draw \
 	application/x-tar \
         application/x-webarchive \
 	application/zip \
+        inode/directory \
+        inode/symlink \
 
 [guifilters]
 # This defines the top level filters in the GUI (accessed by the the
diff --git a/src/sampleconf/mimeview b/src/sampleconf/mimeview
index 7969cd4d..23b3c90c 100644
--- a/src/sampleconf/mimeview
+++ b/src/sampleconf/mimeview
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 #    parent document instead of a temporary html file.
 xallexcepts = application/pdf application/postscript application/x-dvi \
  text/html|gnuinfo text/html|chm text/html|epub \
- application/x-fsdirectory|parentopen
+ application/x-fsdirectory|parentopen inode/directory|parentopen
 
 [view]
 # Pseudo entry used if the 'use desktop' preference is set in the GUI
@@ -80,8 +80,9 @@ application/x-chm = kchmviewer %f
 application/x-dia-diagram = dia %f
 
 application/x-fsdirectory = dolphin %f
-#application/x-fsdirectory|parentopen = nautilus %(childurl)
+inode/directory = dolphin %f
 application/x-fsdirectory|parentopen = dolphin --select %(childurl) %f
+inode/directory|parentopen = dolphin --select %(childurl) %f
 
 application/x-gnuinfo = xterm -e "info -f %f"
 application/x-gnumeric = gnumeric %f
diff --git a/src/utils/fstreewalk.cpp b/src/utils/fstreewalk.cpp
index 044c7f51..b9683e2c 100644
--- a/src/utils/fstreewalk.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/fstreewalk.cpp
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ FsTreeWalker::Status FsTreeWalker::iwalk(const string &top,
                 if ((status = cb.processone(top, &st, FtwDirReturn)) 
                     & (FtwStop|FtwError))
                     goto out;
-        } else if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
+        } else if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
             if ((status = cb.processone(fn, &st, FtwRegular)) & 
                 (FtwStop|FtwError)) {
                 goto out;
diff --git a/src/utils/wipedir.cpp b/src/utils/wipedir.cpp
index d5b2e882..847d705f 100644
--- a/src/utils/wipedir.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/wipedir.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ int wipedir(const string& dir, bool selfalso, bool recurse)
     int statret;
     int ret = -1;
 
-    statret = stat(dir.c_str(), &st);
+    statret = lstat(dir.c_str(), &st);
     if (statret == -1) {
 	LOGERR(("wipedir: cant stat %s, errno %d\n", dir.c_str(), errno));
 	return -1;
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ int wipedir(const string& dir, bool selfalso, bool recurse)
 	string fn = path_cat(dir, ent->d_name);
 
 	struct stat st;
-	int statret = stat(fn.c_str(), &st);
+	int statret = lstat(fn.c_str(), &st);
 	if (statret == -1) {
 	    LOGERR(("wipedir: cant stat %s, errno %d\n", fn.c_str(), errno));
 	    goto out;