diff --git a/docs/pages/release_notes.md b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
index 3d9ed8ac12..504fa716c3 100644
--- a/docs/pages/release_notes.md
+++ b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ as comments are recognized as such and ignored.
 ### Fixed Issues
 
 *   all
+    *   [#1272](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1272): \[core] Could not find or load main class when using symlinked run.sh
     *   [#1377](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1377): \[core] LanguageRegistry uses default class loader when invoking ServiceLocator 
 *   java
     *   [#1330](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1330): \[java] PMD crashes with java.lang.ClassFormatError: Absent Code attribute in method that is not native or abstract in class file javax/xml/ws/Service
diff --git a/pmd-dist/src/main/scripts/run.sh b/pmd-dist/src/main/scripts/run.sh
index 9a5ce0d3e0..79e4ef609e 100755
--- a/pmd-dist/src/main/scripts/run.sh
+++ b/pmd-dist/src/main/scripts/run.sh
@@ -61,7 +61,13 @@ java_heapsize_settings() {
 
 set_lib_dir() {
   if [ -z ${LIB_DIR} ]; then
-    local script_dir=$(dirname "${0}")
+    # Allow for symlinks to this script
+    if [ -L $0 ]; then
+      local script_real_loc=$(readlink "$0")
+    else
+      local script_real_loc=$0
+    fi
+    local script_dir=$(dirname "${script_real_loc}")
     local cwd="${PWD}"
 
     cd "${script_dir}/../lib"