diff --git a/Lib/macpath.py b/Lib/macpath.py
index f58a195..3b3e4ff 100644
--- a/Lib/macpath.py
+++ b/Lib/macpath.py
@@ -193,7 +193,10 @@
     path = components[0] + colon
     for c in components[1:]:
         path = join(path, c)
-        path = Carbon.File.FSResolveAliasFile(path, 1)[0].as_pathname()
+        try:
+            path = Carbon.File.FSResolveAliasFile(path, 1)[0].as_pathname()
+        except Carbon.File.Error:
+            pass
     return path
 
 supports_unicode_filenames = False
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 7c8c711..e85ab00 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -285,6 +285,8 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #8179: Fix macpath.realpath() on a non-existing path.
+
 - Issue #8024: Update the Unicode database to 5.2.
 
 - Issue #8168: py_compile now handles files with utf-8 BOMS.