diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_win.cpp b/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_win.cpp
index bdcac20dd32..89054a95bdf 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_win.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qfilesystemengine_win.cpp
@@ -1390,7 +1390,7 @@ bool QFileSystemEngine::fillMetaData(const QFileSystemEntry &entry, QFileSystemM
     // Check for ".lnk": Directories named ".lnk" should be skipped, corrupted
     // link files should still be detected as links.
     const QString origFilePath = entry.filePath();
-    if (origFilePath.endsWith(".lnk"_L1) && !isDirPath(origFilePath, nullptr)) {
+    if (bool exists; origFilePath.endsWith(".lnk"_L1) && !isDirPath(origFilePath, &exists) && exists) {
         data.entryFlags |= QFileSystemMetaData::WinLnkType;
         fname = QFileSystemEntry(readLink(entry));
     } else {
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/io/qfileinfo/tst_qfileinfo.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/io/qfileinfo/tst_qfileinfo.cpp
index fbc21d7a05d..7b31e2789b0 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/io/qfileinfo/tst_qfileinfo.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/io/qfileinfo/tst_qfileinfo.cpp
@@ -1289,6 +1289,7 @@ void tst_QFileInfo::isSymLink_data()
     QTest::newRow("existent file") << m_sourceFile << false << "";
     QTest::newRow("link") << "link.lnk" << true << QFileInfo(m_sourceFile).absoluteFilePath();
     QTest::newRow("broken link") << "brokenlink.lnk" << true << QFileInfo("dummyfile").absoluteFilePath();
+    QTest::newRow("nonexistent") << "thispathdoesntexist.lnk" << false << QString();
 
 #ifndef Q_OS_WIN
     QDir::current().mkdir("relative");
@@ -1414,6 +1415,8 @@ void tst_QFileInfo::isSymbolicLink_data()
         << regularFile.fileName() << false;
     QTest::newRow("directory")
         << QDir::currentPath() << false;
+    QTest::newRow("nonexistent")
+        << "thispathdoesntexist.lnk" << false;
 
 #ifndef Q_NO_SYMLINKS
 #if defined(Q_OS_WIN)