diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index c793ae57..446fd2d7 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 xbps-0.50 (???):
 
+ * alternatives: really make relative symlinks this time.
+
 xbps-0.49 (2015-10-31):
 
  * alternatives: relative symlinks are now supported. Contributed
diff --git a/lib/package_alternatives.c b/lib/package_alternatives.c
index 958c9f10..b71081eb 100644
--- a/lib/package_alternatives.c
+++ b/lib/package_alternatives.c
@@ -102,23 +102,28 @@ create_symlinks(struct xbps_handle *xhp, xbps_array_t a, const char *grname)
 	cnt = xbps_array_count(a);
 	for (i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
 		xbps_string_t str;
-		char *l, *lnk;
-		const char *tgt;
+		char *l, *lnk, *tgt;
+		const char *tgt0;
 		int rv;
 
 		str = xbps_array_get(a, i);
 		l = left(xbps_string_cstring_nocopy(str));
 		assert(l);
-		tgt = right(xbps_string_cstring_nocopy(str));
+		tgt0 = right(xbps_string_cstring_nocopy(str));
 		assert(tgt);
 		if (l[0] != '/') {
 			char *tgt_dup, *tgt_dir;
-			tgt_dup = strdup(tgt);
+			tgt_dup = strdup(tgt0);
 			assert(tgt_dup);
 			tgt_dir = dirname(tgt_dup);
 			lnk = xbps_xasprintf("%s%s/%s", xhp->rootdir, tgt_dir, l);
 			free(tgt_dup);
+			tgt_dup = strdup(tgt0);
+			assert(tgt_dup);
+			tgt = strdup(basename(tgt_dup));
+			free(tgt_dup);
 		} else {
+			tgt = strdup(tgt0);
 			lnk = xbps_xasprintf("%s%s", xhp->rootdir, l);
 		}
 		xbps_set_cb_state(xhp, XBPS_STATE_ALTGROUP_LINK_ADDED, 0, NULL,
@@ -128,10 +133,12 @@ create_symlinks(struct xbps_handle *xhp, xbps_array_t a, const char *grname)
 			xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "failed to create alt symlink '%s'"
 			    "for group '%s': %s\n", lnk, grname,
 			    strerror(errno));
+			free(tgt);
 			free(lnk);
 			free(l);
 			return rv;
 		}
+		free(tgt);
 		free(lnk);
 		free(l);
 	}
diff --git a/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh b/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh
index 8d16314b..463272c9 100644
--- a/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh
+++ b/tests/xbps/xbps-alternatives/main.sh
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ register_one_relative_head() {
 }
 register_one_relative_body() {
 	mkdir -p repo pkg_A/usr/bin
-	touch pkg_A/usr/bin/fileA pkg_A/usr/bin/fileB
+	touch pkg_A/usr/bin/fileA
 	cd repo
-	xbps-create -A noarch -n A-1.1_1 -s "A pkg" --alternatives "file:../file:/usr/bin/fileA file2:file2:/usr/bin/fileB" ../pkg_A
+	xbps-create -A noarch -n A-1.1_1 -s "A pkg" --alternatives "file:file:/usr/bin/fileA" ../pkg_A
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
 	xbps-rindex -d -a $PWD/*.xbps
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
@@ -47,17 +47,8 @@ register_one_relative_body() {
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
 	rv=1
 	if [ -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
-		lnk=$(readlink root/usr/file)
-		if [ "$lnk" = "/usr/bin/fileA" ]; then
-			rv=0
-		fi
-		echo "A lnk: $lnk"
-	fi
-	atf_check_equal $rv 0
-	rv=1
-	if [ -e root/usr/bin/fileB ]; then
-		lnk=$(readlink root/usr/bin/file2)
-		if [ "$lnk" = "/usr/bin/fileB" ]; then
+		lnk=$(readlink root/usr/bin/file)
+		if [ "$lnk" = "fileA" ]; then
 			rv=0
 		fi
 		echo "A lnk: $lnk"
@@ -150,7 +141,7 @@ unregister_one_body() {
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
 	xbps-remove -r root -yvd A
 	rv=1
-	if [ ! -L root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
+	if [ ! -e root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
 		rv=0
 	fi
 	atf_check_equal $rv 0
@@ -175,7 +166,7 @@ unregister_one_relative_body() {
 	atf_check_equal $? 0
 	xbps-remove -r root -yvd A
 	rv=1
-	if [ ! -L root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
+	if [ ! -e root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
 		rv=0
 	fi
 	atf_check_equal $rv 0
@@ -211,7 +202,7 @@ unregister_multi_body() {
 	atf_check_equal $rv 0
 	xbps-remove -r root -yvd A
 	rv=1
-	if [ ! -L root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
+	if [ ! -e root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileA ]; then
 		rv=0
 	fi
 	atf_check_equal $rv 0
@@ -230,7 +221,7 @@ unregister_multi_body() {
 
 	xbps-remove -r root -yvd B
 	rv=1
-	if [ ! -L root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileB ]; then
+	if [ ! -e root/usr/bin/file -a ! -e root/usr/bin/fileB ]; then
 		rv=0
 	fi
 	atf_check_equal $rv 0