diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js
index bd5a7aae4..9dca49d5d 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js
@@ -385,10 +385,17 @@ function loadNodeSet(node) {
         var stack = err.stack;
         var message;
         if (stack) {
-            var i = stack.indexOf(node.file);
+            var filePath = node.file;
+            try {
+                filePath = fs.realpathSync(filePath);
+            }
+            catch (e) {
+                // ignore canonicalization error
+            }
+            var i = stack.indexOf(filePath);
             if (i > -1) {
-                var excerpt = stack.substring(i+node.file.length+1,i+node.file.length+20);
-                var m = /^(\d+):(\d+)/.exec(excerpt);
+                var excerpt = stack.substring(i+filePath.length+1,i+filePath.length+20);
+                var m = /^(\d+)/.exec(excerpt);
                 if (m) {
                     node.err = err+" (line:"+m[1]+")";
                 }