diff --git a/sxmp/hub.c b/sxmp/hub.c
index f8e2cb1..da92491 100644
--- a/sxmp/hub.c
+++ b/sxmp/hub.c
@@ -656,29 +656,44 @@ int sxhub_setsslserts(sxhub_t *ssys, const char *rootca,
 
   /* check on existence of certificate files */
   if (access(rootca, R_OK) == -1) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "Unable to access rootca file ('%s'): ", rootca);
-    perror("");
+    ssys->log(SXERROR_LOG, "Unable to read rootca file '%s': %s\n",
+              rootca, sys_errlist[errno]);
     return ENOENT;
   }
   if (access(certpem, R_OK) == -1) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "Unable to access certpem file ('%s'): ", certpem);
-    perror("");
+    ssys->log(SXERROR_LOG, "Unable to read certpem file '%s': %s\n",
+              certpem, sys_errlist[errno]);
     return ENOENT;
   }
   if (access(certkey, R_OK) == -1) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "Unable to access certkey file ('%s'): ", certkey);
-    perror("");
+    ssys->log(SXERROR_LOG, "Unable to read certkey file '%s': %s\n",
+              certkey, sys_errlist[errno]);
     return ENOENT;
   }
 
-  /* simply copying */
-  int r = ENOMEM;
-  if(!(ssys->rootca = strdup(rootca))) return ENOMEM;
-  if(!(ssys->certkey = strdup(certkey)))     goto __fail;
-  if(!(ssys->certpem = strdup(certpem)))     goto __fail;
+  /* obtain full paths of certificate files */
+  int r;
+  if (NULL == (ssys->rootca = realpath(rootca, NULL))) {
+    ssys->log(SXERROR_LOG, "Unable to obtain the full path of '%s': %s\n",
+              rootca, sys_errlist[errno]);
+    if (errno == ENOMEM) r = errno;
+    goto __fail;
+  }
+  if (NULL == (ssys->certpem = realpath(certpem, NULL))) {
+    ssys->log(SXERROR_LOG, "Unable to obtain the full path of '%s': %s\n",
+              certpem, sys_errlist[errno]);
+    if (errno == ENOMEM) r = errno;
+    goto __fail;
+  }
+  if (NULL == (ssys->certkey = realpath(certkey, NULL))) {
+    ssys->log(SXERROR_LOG, "Unable to obtain the full path of '%s': %s\n",
+              certkey, sys_errlist[errno]);
+    if (errno == ENOMEM) r = errno;
+    goto __fail;
+  }
 
-  r = 0;
   return 0;
+
  __fail:
   if(ssys->rootca) free(ssys->rootca);
   if(ssys->certkey) free(ssys->certkey);