diff --git a/functions.sh b/functions.sh
index 8fe5ae7e..29de20bc 100644
--- a/functions.sh
+++ b/functions.sh
@@ -502,6 +502,12 @@ dir_prep() {
     mv -f "$symlink" "$symlink.old"
   fi
 
+  # if the real dir is already a symlink, unlink it first
+  if [ -L "$real" ];
+  then
+    unlink "$real"
+  fi
+
   # if the real dir doesn't exist we create it
   if [ ! -d "$real" ];
   then
@@ -518,7 +524,7 @@ dir_prep() {
   if [ -d "$symlink.old" ];
   then
     echo "Moving the data from $symlink.old to $real" #DEBUG
-    mv -f "$symlink".old/* $real
+    mv -f "$symlink.old"/{.[!.],}* $real
     echo "Removing $symlink.old" #DEBUG
     rm -rf "$symlink.old"
   fi