diff --git a/src/osgDB/FileUtils.cpp b/src/osgDB/FileUtils.cpp
index 13a57db0a..098208145 100644
--- a/src/osgDB/FileUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/osgDB/FileUtils.cpp
@@ -150,7 +150,18 @@ static char *findFileInPath( const char *_file, const char * filePath )
 
 char *osgDB::findFile( const char *file )
 {
-    return findFileInPath( file, s_filePath );
+    if (!file) return NULL;
+    
+    char* newFileName = findFileInPath( file, s_filePath );
+    if (newFileName) return newFileName;
+    
+
+    // need to check here to see if file has a path on it.
+    
+    // now strip the file of an previous path if one exists.
+    std::string simpleFileName = getSimpleFileName(file);
+    newFileName = findFileInPath( simpleFileName.c_str(), s_filePath );
+    return newFileName;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/flt/FltFile.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/flt/FltFile.cpp
index 5a1271819..8b8eab8bd 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/flt/FltFile.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/flt/FltFile.cpp
@@ -91,9 +91,9 @@ Record* FltFile::readFile(const std::string& fileName)
     if (!fin.open(fileName)) 
     {
         // ok havn't found file, resort to using findFile...
-        std::string newFileName = osgDB::findFile(fileName.c_str());
-        
-        if (newFileName.empty()) return NULL;
+        char* newFileName = osgDB::findFile(fileName.c_str());
+
+        if (!newFileName) return NULL;
         if (!fin.open(newFileName)) return NULL;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/flt/Input.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/flt/Input.cpp
index 0a2ab5b36..4b70490b2 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/flt/Input.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/flt/Input.cpp
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ bool FileInput::open(const std::string& fileName)
     if (_file == NULL) 
     {
         // ok havn't found file, resort to using findFile...
-        std::string newFileName = osgDB::findFile(fileName.c_str());
-        if (newFileName.empty()) return false;
-        
-        _file=::fopen( fileName.c_str(), "rb");
+        char* newFileName = osgDB::findFile(fileName.c_str());
+
+        if (!newFileName) return false;
+        _file=::fopen( newFileName, "rb");
         if (_file == NULL) return false;
     }
     _eof = false;