diff --git a/src/util.cc b/src/util.cc
index c526527648..8b38246893 100644
--- a/src/util.cc
+++ b/src/util.cc
@@ -971,35 +971,59 @@ FILE* open_package(string& path, const string& mode)
 	return 0;
 	}
 
-SafePathOp::SafePathOp(PathOpFn fn, const char* path, bool error_aborts)
+void SafePathOp::CheckValid(const char* result, const char* path,
+                            bool error_aborts)
 	{
-	DoFunc(fn, path ? path : "", error_aborts);
-	}
-
-SafePathOp::SafePathOp(PathOpFn fn, const string& path, bool error_aborts)
-	{
-	DoFunc(fn, path, error_aborts);
-	}
-
-void SafePathOp::DoFunc(PathOpFn fn, const string& path, bool error_aborts)
-	{
-	char* tmp = copy_string(path.c_str());
-	char* rval = fn(tmp);
-
-	if ( rval )
+	if ( result )
 		{
-		result = rval;
+		result = result;
 		error = false;
 		}
 	else
 		{
 		if ( error_aborts )
 			reporter->InternalError("Path operation failed on %s: %s",
-			                        tmp ? tmp : "<null>", strerror(errno));
+			                        path ? path : "<null>", strerror(errno));
 		else
 			error = true;
 		}
+	}
 
+SafeDirname::SafeDirname(const char* path, bool error_aborts)
+	: SafePathOp()
+	{
+	DoFunc(path ? path : "", error_aborts);
+	}
+
+SafeDirname::SafeDirname(const string& path, bool error_aborts)
+	: SafePathOp()
+	{
+	DoFunc(path, error_aborts);
+	}
+
+void SafeDirname::DoFunc(const string& path, bool error_aborts)
+	{
+	char* tmp = copy_string(path.c_str());
+	CheckValid(dirname(tmp), tmp, error_aborts);
+	delete [] tmp;
+	}
+
+SafeBasename::SafeBasename(const char* path, bool error_aborts)
+	: SafePathOp()
+	{
+	DoFunc(path ? path : "", error_aborts);
+	}
+
+SafeBasename::SafeBasename(const string& path, bool error_aborts)
+	: SafePathOp()
+	{
+	DoFunc(path, error_aborts);
+	}
+
+void SafeBasename::DoFunc(const string& path, bool error_aborts)
+	{
+	char* tmp = copy_string(path.c_str());
+	CheckValid(basename(tmp), tmp, error_aborts);
 	delete [] tmp;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 976965aebf..d86f45880d 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -224,34 +224,38 @@ extern std::string bro_prefixes();
 class SafePathOp {
 public:
 
-	typedef char*(*PathOpFn)(char*);
-
-	SafePathOp(PathOpFn fn, const char* path, bool error_aborts = true);
-	SafePathOp(PathOpFn fn, const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true);
-
 	std::string result;
 	bool error;
 
-private:
+protected:
+
+	SafePathOp()
+		{ }
+
+	void CheckValid(const char* result, const char* path, bool error_aborts);
 
-	void DoFunc(PathOpFn fn, const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true);
 };
 
 class SafeDirname : public SafePathOp {
 public:
 
-	SafeDirname(const char* path, bool error_aborts = true)
-		: SafePathOp(&dirname, path, error_aborts) { }
-	SafeDirname(const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true)
-		: SafePathOp(&dirname, path, error_aborts) { }
+	SafeDirname(const char* path, bool error_aborts = true);
+	SafeDirname(const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true);
+
+private:
+
+	void DoFunc(const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true);
 };
 
 class SafeBasename : public SafePathOp {
 public:
-	SafeBasename(const char* path, bool error_aborts = true)
-		: SafePathOp(&basename, path, error_aborts) { }
-	SafeBasename(const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true)
-		: SafePathOp(&basename, path, error_aborts) { }
+
+	SafeBasename(const char* path, bool error_aborts = true);
+	SafeBasename(const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true);
+
+private:
+
+	void DoFunc(const std::string& path, bool error_aborts = true);
 };
 
 std::string implode_string_vector(const std::vector<std::string>& v,