diff --git a/lib/std/fs/test.zig b/lib/std/fs/test.zig
index 6f6489e80f7fc3a63c25ea971f633c1f1186545b..13438412ce4a01ab5d97848dd2f884126001a269 100644
--- a/lib/std/fs/test.zig
+++ b/lib/std/fs/test.zig
@@ -218,6 +218,32 @@ test "Dir.readLink" {
     }.impl);
 }
 
+test "Dir.readLink on non-symlinks" {
+    try testWithAllSupportedPathTypes(struct {
+        fn impl(ctx: *TestContext) !void {
+            const file_path = try ctx.transformPath("file.txt");
+            try ctx.dir.writeFile(.{ .sub_path = file_path, .data = "nonsense" });
+            const dir_path = try ctx.transformPath("subdir");
+            try ctx.dir.makeDir(dir_path);
+
+            // file
+            var buffer: [fs.max_path_bytes]u8 = undefined;
+            try std.testing.expectError(error.NotLink, ctx.dir.readLink(file_path, &buffer));
+            if (builtin.os.tag == .windows) {
+                var file_path_w = try std.os.windows.sliceToPrefixedFileW(ctx.dir.fd, file_path);
+                try std.testing.expectError(error.NotLink, ctx.dir.readLinkW(file_path_w.span(), &file_path_w.data));
+            }
+
+            // dir
+            try std.testing.expectError(error.NotLink, ctx.dir.readLink(dir_path, &buffer));
+            if (builtin.os.tag == .windows) {
+                var dir_path_w = try std.os.windows.sliceToPrefixedFileW(ctx.dir.fd, dir_path);
+                try std.testing.expectError(error.NotLink, ctx.dir.readLinkW(dir_path_w.span(), &dir_path_w.data));
+            }
+        }
+    }.impl);
+}
+
 fn testReadLink(dir: Dir, target_path: []const u8, symlink_path: []const u8) !void {
     var buffer: [fs.max_path_bytes]u8 = undefined;
     const actual = try dir.readLink(symlink_path, buffer[0..]);
diff --git a/lib/std/os/windows.zig b/lib/std/os/windows.zig
index bb908143c10b1bb2fa03e1d6c764fac8b540e93e..5f41a6a1fdcdcfea2cd32b4f8df3840b53ca4b05 100644
--- a/lib/std/os/windows.zig
+++ b/lib/std/os/windows.zig
@@ -3125,6 +3125,7 @@ pub const ReadLinkError = error{
     BadPathName,
     AntivirusInterference,
     UnsupportedReparsePointType,
+    NotLink,
 };
 
 /// `sub_path_w` will never be accessed after `out_buffer` has been written to, so it
@@ -3155,6 +3156,7 @@ pub fn ReadLink(dir: ?HANDLE, sub_path_w: []const u16, out_buffer: []u16) ReadLi
     const rc = DeviceIoControl(result_handle, FSCTL.GET_REPARSE_POINT, .{ .out = reparse_buf[0..] });
     switch (rc) {
         .SUCCESS => {},
+        .NOT_A_REPARSE_POINT => return error.NotLink,
         else => return unexpectedStatus(rc),
     }