Index: file.inc
===================================================================
--- file.inc	(revision 2)
+++ file.inc	(working copy)
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     case FILE_DOWNLOADS_PUBLIC:
       return $GLOBALS['base_url'] .'/'. file_directory_path() .'/'. str_replace('\\', '/', $path);
     case FILE_DOWNLOADS_PRIVATE:
-      return url('system/files/'. $path, array('absolute' => TRUE));
+      return url('system/files/'. $path, array('absolute' => TRUE, 'prefix' => '', 'language' => ''));
   }
 }