diff --git a/CMake/LofarMacros.cmake b/CMake/LofarMacros.cmake
index 78b2fda085dd3587edadb1cf6e484a80b483841e..6a34132d08a14106e2626f79b37204687b4b7961 100644
--- a/CMake/LofarMacros.cmake
+++ b/CMake/LofarMacros.cmake
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ if(NOT DEFINED LOFAR_MACROS_INCLUDED)
   # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   macro(lofar_add_sysconf_files)
     foreach(_name ${ARGN})
-      get_filename_component(_path ${_name} DIRECTORY)
+      get_filename_component(_path ${_name} PATH)
       get_filename_component(_abs_name ${_name} ABSOLUTE)
       file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/etc/${_path})
       execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E create_symlink