diff --git a/functions.php b/functions.php
index 9ef45cd3f..4ce670033 100644
--- a/functions.php
+++ b/functions.php
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@
 		$login = urlencode($login);
 		$pass = urlencode($pass);
 
-		if (function_exists('curl_init')) {
+		if (function_exists('curl_init') && !ini_get("open_basedir")) {
 			$ch = curl_init($url);
 
 			curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 15);
@@ -816,7 +816,8 @@
 
 				if ($debug_enabled) _debug("update_rss_feed: feed hub url: $feed_hub_url");
 
-				if ($feed_hub_url && function_exists('curl_init')) {
+				if ($feed_hub_url && function_exists('curl_init') &&
+					!ini_get("open_basedir")) {
 
 					$callback_url = get_self_url_prefix() .
 						"/backend.php?op=pubsub&id=$feed";
diff --git a/modules/pref-instances.php b/modules/pref-instances.php
index e365457a0..30feb2a4f 100644
--- a/modules/pref-instances.php
+++ b/modules/pref-instances.php
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@
 			return;
 		}
 
-		if (!function_exists('curl_init')) {
+		if (!function_exists('curl_init') && !ini_get("open_basedir")) {
 			print "<div style='padding : 1em'>";
 			print_error("This functionality requires CURL functions. Please enable CURL in your PHP configuration and reload this page.");
 			print "</div>";
diff --git a/sanity_check.php b/sanity_check.php
index 3007d2bb7..3f764171f 100644
--- a/sanity_check.php
+++ b/sanity_check.php
@@ -115,9 +115,9 @@
 		$err_msg = "config: your ICONS_DIR (" . ICONS_DIR . ") is not writable.\n";
 	}
 
-	if (ini_get("open_basedir")) {
+/*	if (ini_get("open_basedir")) {
 		$err_msg = "php.ini: open_basedir is not supported.";
-	}
+} */
 
 	if (!function_exists("curl_init") && !ini_get("allow_url_fopen")) {
 		$err_msg = "php.ini: either allow_url_fopen or CURL needs to be enabled.";