diff --git a/gga_init.py b/gga_init.py
index 247fcde511ecfbd1bde2ce044cc9ee501a905213..1ce0181edeee56564d581ab21b8b1cae9f733352 100755
--- a/gga_init.py
+++ b/gga_init.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class DeploySpeciesStack(speciesData.SpeciesData):
             if not config["banner_path"] == "" and os.path.isfile(os.path.abspath(config["banner_path"])):
                 banner_dest_path = os.path.join(self.main_dir,"/banner.png")
                 logging.info("Custom banner path: %s" % self.config["banner_path"])
-                if os.path.abspath(config["banner_path"]) != banner_dest_path:
+                if os.path.samefile(os.path.abspath(config["banner_path"]),banner_dest_path):
                     shutil.copy(os.path.abspath(self.config["banner_path"]), banner_dest_path)
             else:
                 logging.debug("Using default banner for Tripal pages")