diff --git a/pkg/fs/fakefs.go b/pkg/fs/fakefs.go
index f38260185..fb21f81bd 100644
--- a/pkg/fs/fakefs.go
+++ b/pkg/fs/fakefs.go
@@ -102,9 +102,16 @@ func (fs *fakeFs) Open(name string) (File, error) {
 	return fs.m[name], nil
 }
 
-// EvalSymlinks does nothing and cannot fail.
-func (fs *fakeFs) EvalSymlinks(path string) (string, error) {
-	return path, nil
+// CleanedAbs does nothing and cannot fail.
+func (fs *fakeFs) CleanedAbs(path string) (string, string, error) {
+	if fs.IsDir(path) {
+		return path, "", nil
+	}
+	d := filepath.Dir(path)
+	if d == path {
+		return d, "", nil
+	}
+	return d, filepath.Base(path), nil
 }
 
 // Exists returns true if file is known.
diff --git a/pkg/fs/fs.go b/pkg/fs/fs.go
index 5d647850a..65f5e0148 100644
--- a/pkg/fs/fs.go
+++ b/pkg/fs/fs.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type FileSystem interface {
 	RemoveAll(name string) error
 	Open(name string) (File, error)
 	IsDir(name string) bool
-	EvalSymlinks(path string) (string, error)
+	CleanedAbs(path string) (string, string, error)
 	Exists(name string) bool
 	Glob(pattern string) ([]string, error)
 	ReadFile(name string) ([]byte, error)
diff --git a/pkg/fs/realfs.go b/pkg/fs/realfs.go
index c4fad35c4..75f6f2987 100644
--- a/pkg/fs/realfs.go
+++ b/pkg/fs/realfs.go
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ limitations under the License.
 package fs
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 )
@@ -53,9 +55,41 @@ func (realFS) RemoveAll(name string) error {
 // Open delegates to os.Open.
 func (realFS) Open(name string) (File, error) { return os.Open(name) }
 
-// EvalSymlinks delegates to filepath.EvalSymlinks.
-func (realFS) EvalSymlinks(path string) (string, error) {
-	return filepath.EvalSymlinks(path)
+// CleanedAbs returns a cleaned, absolute path
+// with no symbolic links split into directory
+// and file components.  If the entire path is
+// a directory, the file component is an empty
+// string.
+func (x realFS) CleanedAbs(path string) (string, string, error) {
+	absRoot, err := filepath.Abs(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf(
+			"abs path error on '%s' : %v", path, err)
+	}
+	deLinked, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(absRoot)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf(
+			"evalsymlink failure on '%s' : %v", path, err)
+	}
+	if x.IsDir(deLinked) {
+		return deLinked, "", nil
+	}
+	d := filepath.Dir(deLinked)
+	if !x.IsDir(d) {
+		// Programmer/assumption error.
+		log.Fatalf("first part of '%s' not a directory", deLinked)
+	}
+	if d == deLinked {
+		// Programmer/assumption error.
+		log.Fatalf("d '%s' should be a subset of deLinked", d)
+	}
+	f := filepath.Base(deLinked)
+	if filepath.Join(d, f) != deLinked {
+		// Programmer/assumption error.
+		log.Fatalf("these should be equal: '%s', '%s'",
+			filepath.Join(d, f), deLinked)
+	}
+	return d, f, nil
 }
 
 // Exists returns true if os.Stat succeeds.
diff --git a/pkg/fs/realfs_test.go b/pkg/fs/realfs_test.go
index c1bf8a734..7add5fb64 100644
--- a/pkg/fs/realfs_test.go
+++ b/pkg/fs/realfs_test.go
@@ -17,18 +17,17 @@ limitations under the License.
 package fs
 
 import (
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 )
 
-func TestReadFilesRealFS(t *testing.T) {
+func makeTestDir(t *testing.T) (FileSystem, string) {
 	x := MakeRealFS()
-	testDir := "kustomize_testing_dir"
-	err := x.Mkdir(testDir)
-	defer os.RemoveAll(testDir)
-
+	testDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "kustomize_testing_dir")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error %s", err)
 	}
@@ -38,8 +37,113 @@ func TestReadFilesRealFS(t *testing.T) {
 	if !x.IsDir(testDir) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected directory")
 	}
+	return x, testDir
+}
 
-	err = x.WriteFile(path.Join(testDir, "foo"), []byte(`foo`))
+func TestCleanedAbs_1(t *testing.T) {
+	x, testDir := makeTestDir(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(testDir)
+
+	d, f, err := x.CleanedAbs("")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	wd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	if d != wd {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected d=%s", d)
+	}
+	if f != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected f=%s", f)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCleanedAbs_2(t *testing.T) {
+	x, testDir := makeTestDir(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(testDir)
+
+	d, f, err := x.CleanedAbs("/")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	if d != "/" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected d=%s", d)
+	}
+	if f != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected f=%s", f)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCleanedAbs_3(t *testing.T) {
+	x, testDir := makeTestDir(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(testDir)
+
+	err := x.WriteFile(
+		filepath.Join(testDir, "foo"), []byte(`foo`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+
+	d, f, err := x.CleanedAbs(filepath.Join(testDir, "foo"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	if d != testDir {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected d=%s", d)
+	}
+	if f != "foo" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected f=%s", f)
+	}
+
+}
+
+func TestCleanedAbs_4(t *testing.T) {
+	x, testDir := makeTestDir(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(testDir)
+
+	err := x.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(testDir, "d1", "d2"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	err = x.WriteFile(
+		filepath.Join(testDir, "d1", "d2", "bar"),
+		[]byte(`bar`))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+
+	d, f, err := x.CleanedAbs(
+		filepath.Join(testDir, "d1", "d2"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	if d != filepath.Join(testDir, "d1", "d2") {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected d=%s", d)
+	}
+	if f != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected f=%s", f)
+	}
+
+	d, f, err = x.CleanedAbs(
+		filepath.Join(testDir, "d1", "d2", "bar"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected err=%v", err)
+	}
+	if d != filepath.Join(testDir, "d1", "d2") {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected d=%s", d)
+	}
+	if f != "bar" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected f=%s", f)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReadFilesRealFS(t *testing.T) {
+	x, testDir := makeTestDir(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(testDir)
+
+	err := x.WriteFile(path.Join(testDir, "foo"), []byte(`foo`))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error %s", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/loader/fileloader.go b/pkg/loader/fileloader.go
index 9973e4e4b..0384020f8 100644
--- a/pkg/loader/fileloader.go
+++ b/pkg/loader/fileloader.go
@@ -123,11 +123,16 @@ func newFileLoaderAt(
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
 			"loader root cannot be empty")
 	}
-	absRoot, err := cleanedAbs(root, fSys)
+	absRoot, f, err := fSys.CleanedAbs(root)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
 			"absolute path error in '%s' : %v", root, err)
 	}
+	if f != "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"got file '%s', but '%s' must be a directory to be a root",
+			f, root)
+	}
 	if err := isPathEqualToOrAbove(absRoot, roots); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -143,22 +148,6 @@ func newFileLoaderAt(
 	}, nil
 }
 
-// cleanedAbs returns a cleaned, absolute path
-// with no symbolic links.
-func cleanedAbs(path string, fSys fs.FileSystem) (string, error) {
-	absRoot, err := filepath.Abs(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf(
-			"abs path error on '%s' : %v", path, err)
-	}
-	deLinked, err := fSys.EvalSymlinks(absRoot)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf(
-			"evalsymlink failure on '%s' : %v", path, err)
-	}
-	return deLinked, nil
-}
-
 // New returns a new Loader, rooted relative to current loader,
 // or rooted in a temp directory holding a git repo clone.
 func (l *fileLoader) New(path string) (ifc.Loader, error) {
@@ -226,11 +215,16 @@ func (l *fileLoader) Load(path string) ([]byte, error) {
 	if filepath.IsAbs(path) {
 		return nil, l.loadOutOfBounds(path)
 	}
-	path, err := cleanedAbs(
-		filepath.Join(l.Root(), path), l.fSys)
+	d, f, err := l.fSys.CleanedAbs(
+		filepath.Join(l.Root(), path))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if f == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"'%s' must be a file (got d='%s')", path, d)
+	}
+	path = filepath.Join(d, f)
 	if !l.isInOrBelowRoot(path) {
 		return nil, l.loadOutOfBounds(path)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/loader/fileloader_test.go b/pkg/loader/fileloader_test.go
index bc94c2c09..f1e861005 100644
--- a/pkg/loader/fileloader_test.go
+++ b/pkg/loader/fileloader_test.go
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ func TestNewFileLoaderAt_DemandsDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Expected error - a file should not work.")
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "does not exist or is not a directory") {
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "must be a directory to be a root") {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected err: %v", err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/resmap/factory_test.go b/pkg/resmap/factory_test.go
index 8d4cb0d54..27e12b86d 100644
--- a/pkg/resmap/factory_test.go
+++ b/pkg/resmap/factory_test.go
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func TestNewFromConfigMaps(t *testing.T) {
 		expected    ResMap
 	}
 
-	l := loadertest.NewFakeLoader("/whatever/project/")
+	l := loadertest.NewFakeLoader("/whatever/project")
 	testCases := []testCase{
 		{
 			description: "construct config map from env",