--- /Users/chellman/Desktop/swftools.module	2009-03-08 04:09:49.000000000 -0500
+++ /Users/chellman/Sites/drupal6/sites/all/modules/swftools/swftools.module	2009-03-10 13:19:09.000000000 -0500
@@ -1674,7 +1674,12 @@ function swftools_swftools_methods() {
  *   The path to the file including any $base_path but excluding $base_root
  */
 function swftools_strip_base_root($file) {
+  $baseroot = str_replace($GLOBALS['base_root'], '', $file);
   
-  return str_replace($GLOBALS['base_root'], '', $file);
-  
+  // is the path we're going to return complete, i.e. starting with a slash?
+  if (substr($baseroot, 0, 1) == '/') {
+    return $baseroot;
+  } else {
+    return $file;
+  }
 }