diff --git a/lib/fakefs/fileutils.rb b/lib/fakefs/fileutils.rb
index 6c00888..8b62905 100644
--- a/lib/fakefs/fileutils.rb
+++ b/lib/fakefs/fileutils.rb
@@ -26,13 +26,13 @@ module FakeFS
     alias_method :rm_rf, :rm
     alias_method :rm_r, :rm
 
-    def ln_s(target, path)
-      raise Errno::EEXIST, path if FileSystem.find(path)
+    def ln_s(target, path, options = {})
+      options = { :force => false }.merge(options)
+      (FileSystem.find(path) and !options[:force]) ? raise(Errno::EEXIST, path) : FileSystem.delete(path)
       FileSystem.add(path, FakeSymlink.new(target))
     end
     def ln_sf(target, path)
-      FileSystem.delete(path)
-      FileSystem.add(path, FakeSymlink.new(target))
+      ln_s(target, path, { :force => true })
     end
 
     
diff --git a/test/fakefs_test.rb b/test/fakefs_test.rb
index a52a12c..f1f6712 100644
--- a/test/fakefs_test.rb
+++ b/test/fakefs_test.rb
@@ -74,6 +74,20 @@ class FakeFSTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       FileUtils.ln_s(target, '/path/to/link')
     end
   end
+  
+  def test_can_force_creation_of_symlinks
+    FileUtils.mkdir_p(target = "/path/to/first/target")
+    FileUtils.ln_s(target, "/path/to/link")
+    assert_kind_of FakeSymlink, FileSystem.fs['path']['to']['link']
+    FileUtils.ln_s(target, '/path/to/link', :force => true)
+  end
+  
+  def test_create_symlink_using_ln_sf
+    FileUtils.mkdir_p(target = "/path/to/first/target")
+    FileUtils.ln_s(target, "/path/to/link")
+    assert_kind_of FakeSymlink, FileSystem.fs['path']['to']['link']
+    FileUtils.ln_sf(target, '/path/to/link')
+  end
 
   def test_can_follow_symlinks
     FileUtils.mkdir_p(target = "/path/to/target")