ImpImporter.find_modules calls os.path.real on the path used:

https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/be6b74c0795b709c7a04e2187a7e32d08f5155f6/Lib/pkgutil.py#L181

This means if there is a submodule (foo.bar) which first appears on the path involving a symlink that

pkgutil.find_loader('foo').get_filename()

has the path with the symlinks removed whereas

import foo
foo.__file__

does have the symlinks. Note that is in the absence of any PEP302 import hooks.

This behaviour comes up in pytest test/plugin collection in virtual environments in Py2.7 on linux where they have a symlinked venv/local/lib before venv/lib on the path and creates problems.

There might very well be a good reason the path is made absolute here, however the test suite passes when it is reverted to path = [self.path].

Ignoring testing code, there is minimal use of os.path.realpath in the stdlib (https://github.com/python/cpython/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=%22os.path.realpath%22&type=):

- Lib/platform.py: used before opening a file (works around a cygwin bug)
- Lib/unittest/loader.py: used to compare two paths for equality
- Lib/pkgutil.py: as outlined in this issue
- Lib/pydoc.py: used to determine the directory
- Lib/inspect.py: path and realpath added to caching dictionary

So the question that remains is whether __import__ does this on the hood? I get not due to the difference noted in the OP betweein importing and using pkgutil.

Import itself I don't believe calls os.path.realpath(), so this is probably just something pkgutil happens to do.