diff --git a/build/cli.cjs b/build/cli.cjs
index e494590738..88ab56eae7 100755
--- a/build/cli.cjs
+++ b/build/cli.cjs
@@ -356,7 +356,16 @@ function getFilepath(cwd = ".", name = "zx", _ext) {
   return [
     name + ext,
     name + "-" + (0, import_util2.randomId)() + ext
-  ].map((f) => import_index.path.resolve(import_node_process2.default.cwd(), cwd, f)).find((f) => !import_index.fs.existsSync(f));
+  ].map((f) => import_index.path.resolve(import_node_process2.default.cwd(), cwd, f)).find((f) => !existsNoFollow(f));
+}
+function existsNoFollow(p) {
+  try {
+    import_index.fs.lstatSync(p);
+    return true;
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (err?.code === "ENOENT") return false;
+    throw err;
+  }
 }
 /* c8 ignore next 100 */
 // Annotate the CommonJS export names for ESM import in node:
@@ -369,4 +378,4 @@ function getFilepath(cwd = ".", name = "zx", _ext) {
   normalizeExt,
   printUsage,
   transformMarkdown
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+});
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index df1ea719f0..cf3b5a2a42 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -294,5 +294,15 @@ function getFilepath(cwd = '.', name = 'zx', _ext?: string): string {
     name + '-' + randomId() + ext,
   ]
     .map(f => path.resolve(process.cwd(), cwd, f))
-    .find(f => !fs.existsSync(f))!
+    .find(f => !existsNoFollow(f))!
+}
+
+function existsNoFollow(p: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    fs.lstatSync(p)
+    return true
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    if (err?.code === 'ENOENT') return false
+    throw err
+  }
 }
diff --git a/test/cli.test.js b/test/cli.test.js
index 848cade891..4c29c85d33 100644
--- a/test/cli.test.js
+++ b/test/cli.test.js
@@ -367,6 +367,31 @@ console.log(a);
     assert.equal((await $`node build/cli.js -e='echo(69)'`).stdout, '69\n')
   })
 
+  test('eval does not write through dangling symlink temp path', async (t) => {
+    const cwd = tmpdir()
+    const target = path.join(cwd, 'created-through-symlink')
+    const link = path.join(cwd, 'zx.mjs')
+
+    try {
+      fs.symlinkSync(target, link)
+    } catch {
+      await fs.remove(cwd)
+      t.skip('symlink creation is unavailable')
+      return
+    }
+
+    try {
+      const out =
+        await $`node build/cli.js --cwd=${cwd} --eval 'console.log("ok")'`
+
+      assert.equal(out.stdout, 'ok\n')
+      assert.equal(fs.existsSync(target), false)
+      assert.equal(fs.lstatSync(link).isSymbolicLink(), true)
+    } finally {
+      await fs.remove(cwd)
+    }
+  })
+
   test('eval works with stdin', async () => {
     const p = $`(printf foo; sleep 0.1; printf bar) | node build/cli.js --eval 'echo(await stdin())'`
     assert.equal((await p).stdout, 'foobar\n')