Linux: Keytool (and others) don't accept symlinks

FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.6.0_18"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.8.9) (6b18-1.8.9-0.1~squeeze1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 14.0-b16, mixed mode)


ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 #1 SMP Wed Aug 31 16:50:35 UTC 2011 x86_64 GNU/Linux


A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The keytool tool (and probably other tools) don't accept symlink files as input.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
keytool -import -file /etc/ssl/certs/$FILE.pem -alias $FILE -keystore $OUTFILE -storepass $PASSWORD -noprompt

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
The file is accepted since symlinks should be handled like normal files
ACTUAL -
java.io.FileNotFoundException is thrown

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
keytool -import -file /etc/ssl/certs/$FILE.pem -alias $FILE -keystore $OUTFILE -storepass $PASSWORD -noprompt
---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Workaround: Generate a "real" file so that keystore accepts it.

cat /etc/ssl/certs/$FILE.pem > tmp.pem
keytool -import -file tmp.pem -alias $FILE -keystore $OUTFILE -storepass $PASSWORD -noprompt
rm tmp.pem