diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
index 3327d1b2e2c..de9d194d795 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
@@ -2024,7 +2024,7 @@ class AnsibleModule(object):
                                    (filename, algorithm, ', '.join(AVAILABLE_HASH_ALGORITHMS)))
 
         blocksize = 64 * 1024
-        infile = open(filename, 'rb')
+        infile = open(os.path.realpath(filename), 'rb')
         block = infile.read(blocksize)
         while block:
             digest_method.update(block)