diff --git a/crates/cargo-test-support/src/registry.rs b/crates/cargo-test-support/src/registry.rs
index 5a0a4c58280..667e3edd737 100644
--- a/crates/cargo-test-support/src/registry.rs
+++ b/crates/cargo-test-support/src/registry.rs
@@ -403,10 +403,17 @@ pub struct Dependency {
     optional: bool,
 }
 
+/// Entry with data that corresponds to [`tar::EntryType`].
+#[non_exhaustive]
+enum EntryData {
+    Regular(String),
+    Symlink(PathBuf),
+}
+
 /// A file to be created in a package.
 struct PackageFile {
     path: String,
-    contents: String,
+    contents: EntryData,
     /// The Unix mode for the file. Note that when extracted on Windows, this
     /// is mostly ignored since it doesn't have the same style of permissions.
     mode: u32,
@@ -780,13 +787,24 @@ impl Package {
     pub fn file_with_mode(&mut self, path: &str, mode: u32, contents: &str) -> &mut Package {
         self.files.push(PackageFile {
             path: path.to_string(),
-            contents: contents.to_string(),
+            contents: EntryData::Regular(contents.into()),
             mode,
             extra: false,
         });
         self
     }
 
+    /// Adds a symlink to a path to the package.
+    pub fn symlink(&mut self, dst: &str, src: &str) -> &mut Package {
+        self.files.push(PackageFile {
+            path: dst.to_string(),
+            contents: EntryData::Symlink(src.into()),
+            mode: DEFAULT_MODE,
+            extra: false,
+        });
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Adds an "extra" file that is not rooted within the package.
     ///
     /// Normal files are automatically placed within a directory named
@@ -795,7 +813,7 @@ impl Package {
     pub fn extra_file(&mut self, path: &str, contents: &str) -> &mut Package {
         self.files.push(PackageFile {
             path: path.to_string(),
-            contents: contents.to_string(),
+            contents: EntryData::Regular(contents.to_string()),
             mode: DEFAULT_MODE,
             extra: true,
         });
@@ -1033,7 +1051,7 @@ impl Package {
             self.append_manifest(&mut a);
         }
         if self.files.is_empty() {
-            self.append(&mut a, "src/lib.rs", DEFAULT_MODE, "");
+            self.append(&mut a, "src/lib.rs", DEFAULT_MODE, &EntryData::Regular("".into()));
         } else {
             for PackageFile {
                 path,
@@ -1107,10 +1125,10 @@ impl Package {
             manifest.push_str("[lib]\nproc-macro = true\n");
         }
 
-        self.append(ar, "Cargo.toml", DEFAULT_MODE, &manifest);
+        self.append(ar, "Cargo.toml", DEFAULT_MODE, &EntryData::Regular(manifest.into()));
     }
 
-    fn append<W: Write>(&self, ar: &mut Builder<W>, file: &str, mode: u32, contents: &str) {
+    fn append<W: Write>(&self, ar: &mut Builder<W>, file: &str, mode: u32, contents: &EntryData) {
         self.append_raw(
             ar,
             &format!("{}-{}/{}", self.name, self.vers, file),
@@ -1119,8 +1137,16 @@ impl Package {
         );
     }
 
-    fn append_raw<W: Write>(&self, ar: &mut Builder<W>, path: &str, mode: u32, contents: &str) {
+    fn append_raw<W: Write>(&self, ar: &mut Builder<W>, path: &str, mode: u32, contents: &EntryData) {
         let mut header = Header::new_ustar();
+        let contents = match contents {
+            EntryData::Regular(contents) => contents.as_str(),
+            EntryData::Symlink(src) => {
+                header.set_entry_type(tar::EntryType::Symlink);
+                t!(header.set_link_name(src));
+                "" // Symlink has no contents.
+            }
+        };
         header.set_size(contents.len() as u64);
         t!(header.set_path(path));
         header.set_mode(mode);
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/registry.rs b/tests/testsuite/registry.rs
index 7dbae00765f..4fcc4ffbec1 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/registry.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/registry.rs
@@ -2583,6 +2583,47 @@ fn package_lock_inside_package_is_overwritten() {
     assert_eq!(ok.metadata().unwrap().len(), 2);
 }
 
+#[cargo_test]
+fn package_lock_as_a_symlink_inside_package_is_overwritten() {
+    let registry = registry::init();
+    let p = project()
+        .file(
+            "Cargo.toml",
+            r#"
+                [project]
+                name = "foo"
+                version = "0.0.1"
+                authors = []
+
+                [dependencies]
+                bar = ">= 0.0.0"
+            "#,
+        )
+        .file("src/main.rs", "fn main() {}")
+        .build();
+
+    Package::new("bar", "0.0.1")
+        .file("src/lib.rs", "pub fn f() {}")
+        .symlink(".cargo-ok", "src/lib.rs")
+        .publish();
+
+    p.cargo("build").run();
+
+    let id = SourceId::for_registry(registry.index_url()).unwrap();
+    let hash = cargo::util::hex::short_hash(&id);
+    let pkg_root = cargo_home()
+        .join("registry")
+        .join("src")
+        .join(format!("-{}", hash))
+        .join("bar-0.0.1");
+    let ok = pkg_root.join(".cargo-ok");
+    let librs = pkg_root.join("src/lib.rs");
+
+    // Is correctly overwritten and doesn't affect the file linked to
+    assert_eq!(ok.metadata().unwrap().len(), 2);
+    assert_eq!(fs::read_to_string(librs).unwrap(), "pub fn f() {}");
+}
+
 #[cargo_test]
 fn ignores_unknown_index_version_http() {
     let _server = setup_http();