diff --git a/src/editor/editor.cpp b/src/editor/editor.cpp
index 73ec2a460e6..cdcb0a66069 100644
--- a/src/editor/editor.cpp
+++ b/src/editor/editor.cpp
@@ -265,7 +265,12 @@ Editor::update(float dt_sec, const Controller& controller)
     m_particle_editor_request = false;
     std::unique_ptr<Screen> screen(new ParticleEditor());
     if (m_particle_editor_filename)
-      static_cast<ParticleEditor*>(screen.get())->open("particles/" + *m_particle_editor_filename);
+    {
+      // realpath() is necessary for particle files outside the particles/ folder
+      std::string path = physfsutil::realpath("particles/" + *m_particle_editor_filename);
+
+      static_cast<ParticleEditor*>(screen.get())->open(path);
+    }
     ScreenManager::current()->push_screen(std::move(screen));
     return;
   }
diff --git a/src/object/custom_particle_system_file.cpp b/src/object/custom_particle_system_file.cpp
index 18ec3ed07f3..a425b3f305e 100644
--- a/src/object/custom_particle_system_file.cpp
+++ b/src/object/custom_particle_system_file.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 #include "editor/editor.hpp"
 #include "gui/menu_manager.hpp"
+#include "physfs/util.hpp"
 #include "util/reader.hpp"
 #include "util/reader_document.hpp"
 #include "util/reader_mapping.hpp"
@@ -66,7 +67,10 @@ CustomParticleSystemFile::update_data()
 {
   try
   {
-    auto doc = ReaderDocument::from_file("particles/" + ((m_filename == "") ? "default.stcp" : m_filename));
+    // realpath() is necessary for particle files outside the particles/ folder
+    std::string path = physfsutil::realpath("particles/" + ((m_filename == "") ? "default.stcp" : m_filename));
+
+    auto doc = ReaderDocument::from_file(path);
     auto root = doc.get_root();
     auto mapping = root.get_mapping();
 
diff --git a/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_menu.cpp b/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_menu.cpp
index 3d15f5a8026..2a896783aa9 100644
--- a/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_menu.cpp
+++ b/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_menu.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "gui/menu_filesystem.hpp"
 #include "gui/menu_item.hpp"
 #include "gui/menu_manager.hpp"
+#include "physfs/util.hpp"
 #include "supertux/level.hpp"
 #include "supertux/gameconfig.hpp"
 #include "supertux/menu/menu_storage.hpp"
@@ -107,8 +108,11 @@ ParticleEditorMenu::menu_action(MenuItem& item)
         "/particles",
         true,
         [](const std::string& new_filename) {
-          ParticleEditor::current()->open("/particles/" +
+          // realpath() is necessary for particle files outside the particles/ folder
+          std::string path = physfsutil::realpath("/particles/" +
                                         ParticleEditor::current()->m_filename);
+
+          ParticleEditor::current()->open(path);
           MenuManager::instance().clear_menu_stack();
         }
       ));
diff --git a/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_open.cpp b/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_open.cpp
index c8527755188..aa0492fc336 100644
--- a/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_open.cpp
+++ b/src/supertux/menu/particle_editor_open.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "gui/dialog.hpp"
 #include "gui/menu_item.hpp"
 #include "gui/menu_manager.hpp"
+#include "physfs/util.hpp"
 #include "supertux/level.hpp"
 #include "supertux/gameconfig.hpp"
 #include "supertux/menu/menu_storage.hpp"
@@ -55,11 +56,17 @@ ParticleEditorOpen::~ParticleEditorOpen()
 void
 ParticleEditorOpen::menu_action(MenuItem& item)
 {
+  std::string path;
+
   switch (item.get_id())
   {
     case MNID_OPEN:
       std::replace(m_filename.begin(), m_filename.end(), '\\', '/');
-      ParticleEditor::current()->open("/particles/" + m_filename);
+
+      // realpath() is necessary for particle files outside the particles/ folder
+      path = physfsutil::realpath("/particles/" + m_filename);
+
+      ParticleEditor::current()->open(path);
       MenuManager::instance().clear_menu_stack();
       break;