diff --git a/tools/findleaves.py b/tools/findleaves.py
index 52c4d9fab6..3a9e5084e2 100755
--- a/tools/findleaves.py
+++ b/tools/findleaves.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def perform_find(mindepth, prune, dirlist, filename):
   pruneleaves = set(map(lambda x: os.path.split(x)[1], prune))
   for rootdir in dirlist:
     rootdepth = rootdir.count("/")
-    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(rootdir):
+    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(rootdir, followlinks=True):
       # prune
       check_prune = False
       for d in dirs: