diff --git a/bin/code_swarm b/bin/code_swarm
index 68f61e4..0b45f07 100755
--- a/bin/code_swarm
+++ b/bin/code_swarm
@@ -96,7 +96,11 @@ def main():
 
 def root_path():
     "Returns the path of the code_swarm source directory"
-    real_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), os.readlink(__file__))
+    real_file = __file__
+    if os.path.islink():
+        real_file = os.readlink(__file__)
+
+    real_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(real_file))
     return os.path.dirname(real_path)
 
 
diff --git a/src/code_swarm.java b/src/code_swarm.java
index c7c156c..950aca4 100644
--- a/src/code_swarm.java
+++ b/src/code_swarm.java
@@ -1499,6 +1499,7 @@ class PersonNode extends Node {
       String iconFile = avatarFetcher.fetchUserImage(name);
       if (iconFile != null) {
         icon = loadImage(iconFile, "unknown");
+	icon.resize(cfg.getPositiveIntProperty("AvatarSize"), cfg.getPositiveIntProperty("AvatarSize"));
         if (circularAvatars)
           icon.mask(avatarMask);
       }