diff --git a/programs/util.c b/programs/util.c
index 652530b1223..d4d009a3643 100644
--- a/programs/util.c
+++ b/programs/util.c
@@ -503,6 +503,16 @@ int UTIL_isLink(const char* infilename)
             return 1;
         }
     }
+#elif defined(_WIN32)
+    {
+        DWORD attributes;
+        attributes = GetFileAttributesA(infilename);
+        if (attributes != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES &&
+            (attributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT)) {
+            UTIL_TRACE_RET(1);
+            return 1;
+        }
+    }
 #endif
     (void)infilename;
     UTIL_TRACE_RET(0);
@@ -942,6 +952,11 @@ static int UTIL_prepareFileList(const char* dirName,
         memcpy(path+dirLength+1, cFile.cFileName, fnameLength);
         pathLength = dirLength+1+fnameLength;
         path[pathLength] = 0;
+        if (!followLinks && UTIL_isLink(path)) {
+            UTIL_DISPLAYLEVEL(2, "Warning : %s is a symbolic link, ignoring\n", path);
+            free(path);
+            continue;
+        }
         if (cFile.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY) {
             if ( strcmp (cFile.cFileName, "..") == 0
               || strcmp (cFile.cFileName, ".") == 0 )
diff --git a/tests/playTests.sh b/tests/playTests.sh
index 44bc82b5610..9f315f6eac4 100755
--- a/tests/playTests.sh
+++ b/tests/playTests.sh
@@ -443,6 +443,34 @@ mkdir -p tmpEmptyDir
 zstd -r tmpEmptyDir
 rm -rf tmpEmptyDir
 
+println "test : directory links are not followed by -r"
+# remove leftovers of a previous failed run
+if [ "$isWindows" = true ]; then cmd //c "rmdir tmpLinkDir\tmpLink" 2> /dev/null || :; fi
+rm -rf tmpLinkDir tmpOutside tmpStdErr
+mkdir -p tmpLinkDir tmpOutside
+echo "inner" > tmpLinkDir/tmpInner
+echo "victim" > tmpOutside/tmpVictim
+if [ "$isWindows" = true ]; then
+  # junctions don't require the privileges that symlinks do
+  (cd tmpLinkDir && cmd //c "mklink /J tmpLink ..\tmpOutside")
+else
+  ln -s ../tmpOutside tmpLinkDir/tmpLink
+fi
+zstd -r --rm tmpLinkDir 2> tmpStdErr
+# remove the link before asserting, so a failing test never leaves a live
+# link behind for the later "rm -rf tmp*" cleanups to encounter
+if [ "$isWindows" = true ]; then
+  cmd //c "rmdir tmpLinkDir\tmpLink"
+else
+  rm -f tmpLinkDir/tmpLink
+fi
+$GREP "symbolic link" tmpStdErr
+test -f tmpLinkDir/tmpInner.zst # file inside the tree was compressed
+test ! -f tmpLinkDir/tmpInner # ... and removed (--rm)
+test -f tmpOutside/tmpVictim # file outside the tree was left untouched
+test ! -f tmpOutside/tmpVictim.zst # ... not compressed through the link
+rm -rf tmpLinkDir tmpOutside tmpStdErr
+
 
 println "\n===>  file removal"
 zstd -f --rm tmp