diff --git a/bitbake/bin/toaster b/bitbake/bin/toaster
index c81aa31..a7572ad 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/toaster
+++ b/bitbake/bin/toaster
@@ -178,6 +178,18 @@ fi
 
 [ `basename \"$0\"` = `basename \"${TOASTER}\"` ] && TOASTER_MANAGED=1
 
+if [ `command -v realpath` >/dev/null ]; then
+    echo "rp"
+    PATHBIN="realpath"
+elif [ `command -v readlink` >/dev/null ]; then
+    echo "rl"
+    PATHBIN="readlink -f"
+fi
+if [ "$PATHBIN" = "" ] ; then
+    echo "you need to install either readlink or realpath to start toaster"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 BBBASEDIR=`dirname $TOASTER`/..
 
 RUNNING=0
@@ -197,7 +209,7 @@ fi
 # toasterconf.json
 if [ "$TOASTER_CONF" = "" ]; then
     TOASTER_CONF="$(dirname $TOASTER)/../../meta-yocto/conf/toasterconf.json"
-    export TOASTER_CONF=$(realpath $TOASTER_CONF)
+    export TOASTER_CONF=$(${PATHBIN} $TOASTER_CONF)
 fi
 if [ ! -f $TOASTER_CONF ]; then
     echo "$TOASTER_CONF configuration file not found. set TOASTER_CONF to specify a path"