diff --git a/internal/chroot.go b/internal/chroot.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..20d7422d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/chroot.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Copyright 2022 buildkit-syft-scanner authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package internal
+
+import (
+	"syscall"
+)
+
+// withChroot executes a target function inside a chroot environment.
+//
+// After the function is executed, the chroot is exited and the working
+// directory is restored.
+func withChroot(dir string, f func() error) error {
+	// save previous state
+	oldfd, err := syscall.Open("/", syscall.O_RDONLY, 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	oldwd, err := syscall.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// set new state
+	if err := syscall.Chroot(dir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := syscall.Chdir("/"); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// execute target function
+	err = f()
+
+	// restore previous state
+	if err2 := syscall.Fchdir(oldfd); err2 != nil && err == nil {
+		return err2
+	}
+	if err2 := syscall.Chroot("."); err2 != nil && err == nil {
+		return err2
+	}
+	if err2 := syscall.Chdir(oldwd); err2 != nil && err == nil {
+		return err2
+	}
+
+	// cleanup
+	if err2 := syscall.Close(oldfd); err2 != nil && err == nil {
+		return err2
+	}
+
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/internal/target.go b/internal/target.go
index 3634a055..a3b1af43 100644
--- a/internal/target.go
+++ b/internal/target.go
@@ -34,37 +34,52 @@ func (t Target) Name() string {
 }
 
 func (t Target) Scan() (sbom.SBOM, error) {
-	inputSrc := "dir:" + t.Path
-	input, err := source.ParseInput(inputSrc, "", false)
-	if err != nil {
-		return sbom.SBOM{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse user input %q: %w", inputSrc, err)
-	}
+	// HACK: execute the scan inside a chroot, to ensure that symlinks are
+	// correctly resolved internally to the mounted image (instead of
+	// redirecting to the host).
+	//
+	// To avoid this, syft needs to support a mode of execution that scans
+	// unpacked container filesystems, see https://github.com/anchore/syft/issues/1359.
 
-	src, cleanup, err := source.New(*input, nil, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		return sbom.SBOM{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to construct source from user input %q: %w", inputSrc, err)
-	}
-	src.Metadata.Name = t.Name()
-	if cleanup != nil {
-		defer cleanup()
-	}
+	var result sbom.SBOM
+	err := withChroot(t.Path, func() error {
+		inputSrc := "dir:/"
+		input, err := source.ParseInput(inputSrc, "", false)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse user input %q: %w", inputSrc, err)
+		}
 
-	result := sbom.SBOM{
-		Source: src.Metadata,
-		Descriptor: sbom.Descriptor{
-			Name:    "syft",
-			Version: version.SyftVersion,
-		},
-	}
+		src, cleanup, err := source.New(*input, nil, nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to construct source from user input %q: %w", inputSrc, err)
+		}
+		src.Metadata.Name = t.Name()
+		if cleanup != nil {
+			defer cleanup()
+		}
+
+		result = sbom.SBOM{
+			Source: src.Metadata,
+			Descriptor: sbom.Descriptor{
+				Name:    "syft",
+				Version: version.SyftVersion,
+			},
+		}
+
+		packageCatalog, relationships, theDistro, err := syft.CatalogPackages(src, cataloger.DefaultConfig())
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
-	packageCatalog, relationships, theDistro, err := syft.CatalogPackages(src, cataloger.DefaultConfig())
+		result.Artifacts.PackageCatalog = packageCatalog
+		result.Artifacts.LinuxDistribution = theDistro
+		result.Relationships = relationships
+
+		return nil
+	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return sbom.SBOM{}, err
 	}
 
-	result.Artifacts.PackageCatalog = packageCatalog
-	result.Artifacts.LinuxDistribution = theDistro
-	result.Relationships = relationships
-
 	return result, nil
 }