diff --git a/lib/kafs/afssys.c b/lib/kafs/afssys.c
index 3f9ab9710..d91a7a196 100644
--- a/lib/kafs/afssys.c
+++ b/lib/kafs/afssys.c
@@ -41,10 +41,19 @@ k_afsklog(char *realm)
   CREDENTIALS c;
   KTEXT_ST ticket;
   char username[256];
+  char krealm[REALM_SZ];
 
   if (!k_hasafs())
     return KSUCCESS;
 
+  if (realm == 0 || realm[0] == 0)
+    {
+      k_errno = krb_get_lrealm(krealm, 0);
+      if (k_errno != KSUCCESS)
+	return k_errno;
+      realm = krealm;
+    }
+
   k_errno = krb_get_cred(AUTH_SUPERUSER, "", realm, &c);
   if (k_errno != KSUCCESS)
     {