diff --git a/openvpn_config.c b/openvpn_config.c
index c814797..347377a 100644
--- a/openvpn_config.c
+++ b/openvpn_config.c
@@ -337,6 +337,65 @@ BuildFileList0(const TCHAR *config_dir, int recurse_depth, int group, int flags)
     FindClose(find_handle);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Open a path and get its file information structure.
+ * Returns true on success, false on error.
+ */
+static bool
+GetFileInfo(const wchar_t *path, BY_HANDLE_FILE_INFORMATION *info)
+{
+    bool ret = false;
+
+    /* FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS required to open directories */
+    HANDLE fd = CreateFileW(path, 0, FILE_SHARE_READ|FILE_SHARE_WRITE,
+                            NULL, OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS, NULL);
+
+    if (fd == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
+    {
+        MsgToEventLog(EVENTLOG_ERROR_TYPE, L"GetFileInfo: Error opening path <%ls> (status = %lu)", path, GetLastError());
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    ret = GetFileInformationByHandle(fd, info);
+    if (!ret)
+    {
+        MsgToEventLog(EVENTLOG_ERROR_TYPE, L"GetFileInfo: Error accessing file information for path <%ls> (status = %lu)", path, GetLastError());
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        PrintDebug(L"path = <%ls> volumeid = %lu file index = (%lu,%lu)", path, info->dwVolumeSerialNumber, info->nFileIndexLow, info->nFileIndexHigh);
+    }
+    CloseHandle(fd);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Compare two paths by checking whether they point to the
+ * same object in the file system. Returns true if the paths
+ * are same, false otherwise.
+ * If the two paths are identical strings return true early.
+ * If any of the paths do not exist, are not accessible or
+ * fail to provide file information, we return false.
+ */
+static bool
+IsSamePath(const wchar_t *path1, const wchar_t *path2)
+{
+    BOOL ret = false;
+    BY_HANDLE_FILE_INFORMATION info1, info2;
+
+    if (_wcsicmp(path1, path2) == 0) return true;
+
+    if (GetFileInfo(path1, &info1) && GetFileInfo(path2, &info2))
+    {
+        ret = (info1.dwVolumeSerialNumber == info2.dwVolumeSerialNumber
+                && info1.nFileIndexLow == info2.nFileIndexLow
+                && info1.nFileIndexHigh == info2.nFileIndexHigh);
+    }
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
 void
 BuildFileList()
 {
@@ -372,7 +431,7 @@ BuildFileList()
 
     root = NewConfigGroup(L"System Profiles", root, flags);
 
-    if (_tcscmp (o.global_config_dir, o.config_dir))
+    if (!IsSamePath(o.global_config_dir, o.config_dir))
         BuildFileList0 (o.global_config_dir, recurse_depth, root, flags);
 
     if (o.num_configs == 0 && issue_warnings)