diff --git a/src/cli/cli.go b/src/cli/cli.go
index 98dbdea..022aab8 100644
--- a/src/cli/cli.go
+++ b/src/cli/cli.go
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ func getPaths(fnames []string) (paths []string, haveFolder bool, err error) {
 	haveFolder = false
 	paths = []string{}
 	for _, fname := range fnames {
-		stat, errStat := os.Stat(fname)
+		stat, errStat := os.Lstat(fname)
 		if errStat != nil {
 			err = errStat
 			return
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.go b/src/utils/utils.go
index cc74bf6..d54e422 100644
--- a/src/utils/utils.go
+++ b/src/utils/utils.go
@@ -41,8 +41,23 @@ func GetInput(prompt string) string {
 	return strings.TrimSpace(text)
 }
 
+// HashFile returns the hash of a file or, in case of a symlink, the
+// SHA256 hash of its target
 // HashFile returns the hash of a file
 func HashFile(fname string) (hash256 []byte, err error) {
+	var fstats os.FileInfo
+	fstats, err = os.Lstat(fname)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if fstats.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+		var target string
+		target, err = os.Readlink(fname)
+		return []byte(SHA256(target)), nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return IMOHashFile(fname)
 }