diff --git a/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.test.ts b/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.test.ts
index 15b8ade4f2..ad4f18bddb 100644
--- a/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.test.ts
+++ b/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.test.ts
@@ -409,3 +409,56 @@ describe("historical source graph validation", () => {
     ).toThrow(/identifier does not match/u);
   });
 });
+
+describe("historical source graph symlink path identity", () => {
+  it("joins internal symlink targets with the inventory NFC normalizer", () => {
+    // "café" spelled NFC, as the inventory produces it, and the same
+    // name spelled NFD, as a macOS readlink can report it.
+    const nfcPath = "src/café.ts";
+    const nfdTarget = "cafe\u0301.ts";
+    expect(nfcPath).not.toBe(nfdTarget);
+
+    const input = { ...graphInput(), inventory_state: "partial" as const };
+    input.entries[1] = fileEntry({ path: nfcPath });
+    input.entries[2] = symlinkEntry({
+      path: "src/link.js",
+      target: nfdTarget,
+      target_state: "internal",
+    });
+    input.relationships = [];
+    const graph = createHistoricalSourceGraph(input);
+    expect(graph.entries[2]).toMatchObject({
+      kind: "symlink",
+      target: nfdTarget,
+      target_state: "internal",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("preserves an exact NFD inventory spelling when resolving its symlink", () => {
+    const input = { ...graphInput(), inventory_state: "partial" as const };
+    input.entries[1] = fileEntry({ path: "src/cafe\u0301.ts" });
+    input.entries[2] = symlinkEntry({
+      path: "src/link.js",
+      target: "cafe\u0301.ts",
+      target_state: "internal",
+    });
+    input.relationships = [];
+    expect(createHistoricalSourceGraph(input).entries[1]?.path).toBe(
+      "src/cafe\u0301.ts",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("still rejects an internal symlink target that no inventory holds", () => {
+    const input = { ...graphInput(), inventory_state: "partial" as const };
+    input.entries[2] = symlinkEntry({
+      path: "src/link.js",
+      // The NFD spelling normalizes to "src/café.ts", which the
+      // inventory does not contain, so the join must still miss.
+      target: "cafe\u0301.ts",
+      target_state: "internal",
+    });
+    expect(() => createHistoricalSourceGraph(input)).toThrow(
+      /must resolve to an inventoried entry/u,
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.ts b/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.ts
index 080f674a26..69d603bcd8 100644
--- a/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.ts
+++ b/src/domain/referenceSourceGraph.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { z } from "zod";
 
 import { canonicalJson } from "./comparisonSemantics.js";
 import { digestCanonicalValue } from "./canonicalDigest.js";
+import { normalizeJoinedLogicalPath } from "./artifactIdentity.js";
 import { compareUnicodeCodePoints } from "./unicodeCodePointOrder.js";
 import { digestSchema } from "./../domain/digests.js";
 import { prefixedDigestSchema } from "./../domain/digests.js";
@@ -313,6 +314,14 @@ const checkSymlinks = (
   paths: ReadonlySet<string>,
   context: z.RefinementCtx,
 ): void => {
+  const normalizedPathCounts = new Map<string, number>();
+  for (const path of paths) {
+    const identity = normalizeJoinedLogicalPath(path);
+    normalizedPathCounts.set(
+      identity,
+      (normalizedPathCounts.get(identity) ?? 0) + 1,
+    );
+  }
   for (const [index, entry] of graph.entries.entries()) {
     if (entry.kind !== "symlink") continue;
     if (entry.target === null) continue;
@@ -330,7 +339,12 @@ const checkSymlinks = (
     const resolved = posix.normalize(
       posix.join(posix.dirname(entry.path), entry.target),
     );
-    if (resolved.startsWith("../") || resolved === ".." || !paths.has(resolved))
+    const normalized = normalizeJoinedLogicalPath(resolved);
+    if (
+      resolved.startsWith("../") ||
+      resolved === ".." ||
+      (!paths.has(resolved) && normalizedPathCounts.get(normalized) !== 1)
+    )
       context.addIssue({
         code: "custom",
         message: "Internal symlink target must resolve to an inventoried entry",