diff --git a/main/fopen_wrappers.c b/main/fopen_wrappers.c
index 67bc0f7c40d..ad168277b69 100644
--- a/main/fopen_wrappers.c
+++ b/main/fopen_wrappers.c
@@ -433,9 +433,13 @@ PHPAPI char *expand_filepath(const char *filepath, char *real_path TSRMLS_DC)
 	char cwd[MAXPATHLEN];
 	char *result;
 
-	result = VCWD_GETCWD(cwd, MAXPATHLEN);	
-	if (!result) {
+	if (IS_ABSOLUTE_PATH(filepath, strlen(filepath))) {
 		cwd[0] = '\0';
+	} else{
+		result = VCWD_GETCWD(cwd, MAXPATHLEN);
+		if (!result) {
+			cwd[0] = '\0';
+		}
 	}
 
 	new_state.cwd = strdup(cwd);