diff --git a/libs/DauxHelper.php b/libs/DauxHelper.php
index 6ae62db..51b1dad 100644
--- a/libs/DauxHelper.php
+++ b/libs/DauxHelper.php
@@ -29,16 +29,20 @@ class DauxHelper
             return;
         }
 
-        if (is_dir($params['themes_path'] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $params['html']['theme'])) {
+        if (is_dir(realpath(($params['themes_path'] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $params['html']['theme'])))) {
             return;
         }
 
         $theme = explode('-', $params['html']['theme']);
+	// do we have a variant or only a theme ?
+	if(isset($theme[1])) {
+        	$params['html']['theme-variant'] = array_pop($theme);
+        	$params['html']['theme'] = implode('-', $theme);
+	} else {
+		$params['html']['theme'] = array_pop($theme);
+	}
 
-        $params['html']['theme-variant'] = array_pop($theme);
-        $params['html']['theme'] = implode('-', $theme);
-
-        if (!is_dir($params['themes_path'] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $params['html']['theme'])) {
+        if (!is_dir(realpath(($params['themes_path'] . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $params['html']['theme'])))) {
             throw new \RuntimeException("Theme '{$params['html']['theme']}' not found");
         }
     }