diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/bundled-plugin-staging.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/bundled-plugin-staging.ts
index 47ecffe02f4..d26b8a5363e 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/bundled-plugin-staging.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/bundled-plugin-staging.ts
@@ -206,6 +206,25 @@ async function symlinkQaStagedDirEntry(params: {
   );
 }
 
+async function resolveQaStagedDirEntryDirectory(params: {
+  sourcePath: string;
+  entry?: {
+    isDirectory(): boolean;
+    isSymbolicLink(): boolean;
+  };
+}) {
+  if (params.entry?.isDirectory()) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  if (params.entry?.isSymbolicLink()) {
+    return (await fs.stat(params.sourcePath)).isDirectory();
+  }
+  if (params.entry) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return (await fs.lstat(params.sourcePath)).isDirectory();
+}
+
 async function seedQaStagedNodeModules(params: { repoRoot: string; stagedRoot: string }) {
   const sourceNodeModulesDir = path.join(params.repoRoot, "node_modules");
   if (!existsSync(sourceNodeModulesDir)) {
@@ -220,7 +239,10 @@ async function seedQaStagedNodeModules(params: { repoRoot: string; stagedRoot: s
     await symlinkQaStagedDirEntry({
       sourcePath: path.join(sourceNodeModulesDir, entry.name),
       targetPath: path.join(stagedNodeModulesDir, entry.name),
-      directory: entry.isDirectory(),
+      directory: await resolveQaStagedDirEntryDirectory({
+        sourcePath: path.join(sourceNodeModulesDir, entry.name),
+        entry,
+      }),
     });
   }
 }
@@ -270,7 +292,10 @@ async function seedQaStagedBuiltTreeRoots(params: {
       await symlinkQaStagedDirEntry({
         sourcePath: path.join(sourceTreeRoot, entry.name),
         targetPath,
-        directory: entry.isDirectory(),
+        directory: await resolveQaStagedDirEntryDirectory({
+          sourcePath: path.join(sourceTreeRoot, entry.name),
+          entry,
+        }),
       });
     }
   }
diff --git a/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts b/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts
index f8e255c86de..74008bda948 100644
--- a/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/qa-lab/src/gateway-child.test.ts
@@ -926,6 +926,10 @@ describe("qa bundled plugin dir", () => {
     cleanups.push(async () => {
       await rm(repoRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
     });
+    const fakeDepStoreRoot = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "qa-bundled-source-store-"));
+    cleanups.push(async () => {
+      await rm(fakeDepStoreRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    });
     await writeFile(
       path.join(repoRoot, "package.json"),
       JSON.stringify(
@@ -965,17 +969,20 @@ describe("qa bundled plugin dir", () => {
       ].join("\n"),
       "utf8",
     );
-    await mkdir(path.join(repoRoot, "node_modules", "fake-dep"), { recursive: true });
+    const fakeDepPackageDir = path.join(fakeDepStoreRoot, "fake-dep");
+    await mkdir(fakeDepPackageDir, { recursive: true });
     await writeFile(
-      path.join(repoRoot, "node_modules", "fake-dep", "package.json"),
+      path.join(fakeDepPackageDir, "package.json"),
       JSON.stringify({ name: "fake-dep", type: "module" }, null, 2),
       "utf8",
     );
     await writeFile(
-      path.join(repoRoot, "node_modules", "fake-dep", "index.js"),
+      path.join(fakeDepPackageDir, "index.js"),
       'export const marker = "ok";\n',
       "utf8",
     );
+    await mkdir(path.join(repoRoot, "node_modules"), { recursive: true });
+    await symlink(fakeDepPackageDir, path.join(repoRoot, "node_modules", "fake-dep"), "dir");
     const tempRoot = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "qa-bundled-source-target-"));
     cleanups.push(async () => {
       await rm(tempRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
@@ -1007,6 +1014,14 @@ describe("qa bundled plugin dir", () => {
     ).resolves.toMatchObject({
       accountId: "qa:ok",
     });
+    await expect(
+      lstat(path.join(stagedRoot, "node_modules", "fake-dep")).then((stats) =>
+        stats.isSymbolicLink(),
+      ),
+    ).resolves.toBe(true);
+    await expect(
+      readFile(path.join(stagedRoot, "node_modules", "fake-dep", "index.js"), "utf8"),
+    ).resolves.toContain('marker = "ok"');
   });
 
   it("maps cli backend provider ids to their owning bundled plugin ids", async () => {