diff --git a/ocl/build_kernel.c b/ocl/build_kernel.c
index b2afd727..dc98319b 100644
--- a/ocl/build_kernel.c
+++ b/ocl/build_kernel.c
@@ -5,35 +5,39 @@ static char *file_contents(const char *filename, int *length)
 {
   char *fullpath = (char *)alloca(PATH_MAX);
   void *buffer;
-  FILE *f;
+  FILE *f = NULL;
 
-  /* Try in the optional kernel path first, defaults to PREFIX */
-  strcpy(fullpath, opt_kernel_path);
-  strcat(fullpath, filename);
-  f = fopen(fullpath, "rb");
+  if (opt_kernel_path && *opt_kernel_path) {
+    /* Try in the optional kernel path first, defaults to PREFIX */
+    snprintf(fullpath, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", opt_kernel_path, filename);
+    applog(LOG_DEBUG, "Trying to open %s...", fullpath);
+    f = fopen(fullpath, "rb");
+  }
   if (!f) {
     /* Then try from the path sgminer was called */
-    strcpy(fullpath, sgminer_path);
-    strcat(fullpath, filename);
+    snprintf(fullpath, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", sgminer_path, filename);
+    applog(LOG_DEBUG, "Trying to open %s...", fullpath);
     f = fopen(fullpath, "rb");
   }
   if (!f) {
     /* Then from `pwd`/kernel/ */
-    strcpy(fullpath, sgminer_path);
-    strcat(fullpath, "/kernel/");
-    strcat(fullpath, filename);
+    snprintf(fullpath, PATH_MAX, "%s/kernel/%s", sgminer_path, filename);
+    applog(LOG_DEBUG, "Trying to open %s...", fullpath);
     f = fopen(fullpath, "rb");
   }
   /* Finally try opening it directly */
-  if (!f)
+  if (!f) {
+    applog(LOG_DEBUG, "Trying to open %s...", fullpath);
     f = fopen(filename, "rb");
+  }
 
   if (!f) {
-    applog(LOG_ERR, "Unable to open %s or %s for reading",
-           filename, fullpath);
+    applog(LOG_ERR, "Unable to open %s for reading!", filename);
     return NULL;
   }
 
+  applog(LOG_DEBUG, "Using %s", fullpath);
+
   fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END);
   *length = ftell(f);
   fseek(f, 0, SEEK_SET);