diff --git a/fileglancer/filestore.py b/fileglancer/filestore.py
index f25f3b67..f86e314d 100644
--- a/fileglancer/filestore.py
+++ b/fileglancer/filestore.py
@@ -149,7 +149,8 @@ def __init__(self, file_share_path: FileSharePath):
         """
         # Expand ~/ to the user's home directory (within user context)
         expanded_path = os.path.expanduser(file_share_path.mount_path)
-        self.root_path = os.path.abspath(expanded_path)
+        # Use realpath to resolve symlinks for consistent path operations (e.g., /var -> /private/var on macOS)
+        self.root_path = os.path.realpath(expanded_path)
 
 
     def _check_path_in_root(self, path: Optional[str]) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_filestore.py b/tests/test_filestore.py
index 07113ae1..a7933106 100644
--- a/tests/test_filestore.py
+++ b/tests/test_filestore.py
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ def test_unmounted_filestore():
 
 
 def test_get_root_path(filestore, test_dir):
-    assert filestore.get_root_path() == test_dir
+    # Root path should be the canonicalized/resolved version of test_dir
+    assert filestore.get_root_path() == os.path.realpath(test_dir)
 
 
 def test_get_root_info(filestore, test_dir):