diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/DefaultPersistenceAdapterFactory.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/DefaultPersistenceAdapterFactory.java
index f92b422007..cc0512a041 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/DefaultPersistenceAdapterFactory.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/store/DefaultPersistenceAdapterFactory.java
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ public class DefaultPersistenceAdapterFactory implements PersistenceAdapterFacto
      * @throws IOException
      */
     protected void createJournal() throws IOException {
-        File journalDir = new File(getDataDirectory(), "journal");
+        File journalDir = new File(getDataDirectory(), "journal").getCanonicalFile();
         journal = new JournalImpl(journalDir, journalLogFiles, journalLogFileSize, getJournalArchiveDirectory());
     }