diff --git a/internal/fs/fs.go b/internal/fs/fs.go
index a79032017b..f72d0832dd 100644
--- a/internal/fs/fs.go
+++ b/internal/fs/fs.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode"
 
@@ -269,12 +270,15 @@ func CopyDir(src, dst string) error {
 // of the source file. The file mode will be copied from the source and
 // the copied data is synced/flushed to stable storage.
 func copyFile(src, dst string) (err error) {
-	if sym, err := IsSymlink(src); err != nil {
-		return err
-	} else if sym {
-		err := copySymlink(src, dst)
+	sym, err := IsSymlink(src)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	// Skip cloning the symlink on Windows and fallback to copying the file content
+	// since creating a symlink on Windows requires admin permissions.
+	if sym && runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
+		return cloneSymlink(src, dst)
+	}
 
 	in, err := os.Open(src)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -314,17 +318,17 @@ func copyFile(src, dst string) (err error) {
 	return
 }
 
-// copySymlink will resolve the src symlink and create a new symlink in dst.
-// If src is a relative symlink, dst will also be a relative symlink.
-func copySymlink(src, dst string) error {
-	resolved, err := os.Readlink(src)
+// cloneSymlink will resolve sl and create a new symlink in dst.
+// If sl is a relative symlink, dst will also be a relative symlink.
+func cloneSymlink(sl, dst string) error {
+	resolved, err := os.Readlink(sl)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to resolve symlink")
 	}
 
 	err = os.Symlink(resolved, dst)
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to create symlink %s to %s", src, resolved)
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to create symlink %s to %s", dst, resolved)
 	}
 
 	return nil