samba - Dec 2003 - smbfs, strange sym link import, starting with kernel 2.6.0

After installing kernel 2.6.0 on a samba client machine, the following
problem occurred:

The server:

One machine in the networks acts as a file server using samba 2.2.3.
(Debian-Woody).  It exports one share to the network.
The directory structure below that share contains a few subdirectories
as well as a few sym links pointing to directories on other hard disks
in the server machine.  Samba is instructed to follow sym links.
(for this example: symdir -> /mnt/drive4/moredata/)


The client:

Debian unstable using samba 3.0.0. 
The share is imported using the following /etc/fstab entry:

  //somename/stuff	/mnt/server	smbfs
defaults,auto,username=XXXXX,password=XXXXX	0	0


The problem on the client machine:

Under kernel 2.4.x all works as expected. 
When I change into 'symdir', I see the content of /mnt/drive4/moredata
on the server machine. 

With 2.6.0, the sym link itself (/mnt/drive4/moredata) is imported. 
'ls -l /mnt/server' on the client machine lists 'symdir' as sym
link
not as a normal directory.
When doing a 'cd /mnt/server/symdir' the client (!) tries to follow
the sym link to '/mnt/drive4/moredata'. This makes no sense in the
context of the client's file system, and the command fails.

Diving into this sub dir with smbclient on the client machine or a
Windows client works as expected.

After rebooting under 2.4 (no other software changed), I get the
expected behavior again.

What did I miss? Any hints?
Thanks

Mike