--- squashfs-tools/mksquashfs.c
+++ squashfs-tools/mksquashfs.c
@@ -1789,7 +1789,7 @@
 
 
 	for(i = 0; i < source; i++)
-		if(stat(source_path[i], &buf) == -1) {
+		if(lstat(source_path[i], &buf) == -1) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Cannot stat source directory \"%s\" because %s\n", source_path[i], strerror(errno));
 			EXIT_MKSQUASHFS();
 		}