diff --git a/packages/next/src/build/index.ts b/packages/next/src/build/index.ts
index 917bb161a4..0c53d68e4b 100644
--- a/packages/next/src/build/index.ts
+++ b/packages/next/src/build/index.ts
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ import {
   createDefineEnv,
 } from './swc'
 import { getNamedRouteRegex } from '../shared/lib/router/utils/route-regex'
-import { flatReaddir } from '../lib/flat-readdir'
+import { getFilesInDir } from '../lib/get-files-in-dir'
 import { eventSwcPlugins } from '../telemetry/events/swc-plugins'
 import { normalizeAppPath } from '../shared/lib/router/utils/app-paths'
 import {
@@ -567,16 +567,18 @@ export default async function build(
       const instrumentationHookEnabled = Boolean(
         config.experimental.instrumentationHook
       )
-      const rootPaths = (
-        await flatReaddir(rootDir, [
-          middlewareDetectionRegExp,
-          ...(instrumentationHookEnabled
-            ? [instrumentationHookDetectionRegExp]
-            : []),
-        ])
-      )
+
+      const includes = [
+        middlewareDetectionRegExp,
+        ...(instrumentationHookEnabled
+          ? [instrumentationHookDetectionRegExp]
+          : []),
+      ]
+
+      const rootPaths = (await getFilesInDir(rootDir))
+        .filter((file) => includes.some((include) => include.test(file)))
         .sort(sortByPageExts(config.pageExtensions))
-        .map((absoluteFile) => absoluteFile.replace(dir, ''))
+        .map((file) => path.join(rootDir, file).replace(dir, ''))
 
       const hasInstrumentationHook = rootPaths.some((p) =>
         p.includes(INSTRUMENTATION_HOOK_FILENAME)
diff --git a/packages/next/src/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader.ts b/packages/next/src/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader.ts
index 4f6fbc609b..ce4a783b2e 100644
--- a/packages/next/src/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader.ts
+++ b/packages/next/src/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import { getFilenameAndExtension } from './next-metadata-route-loader'
 import { isAppBuiltinNotFoundPage } from '../../utils'
 import { loadEntrypoint } from '../../load-entrypoint'
 import { isGroupSegment } from '../../../shared/lib/segment'
+import { getFilesInDir } from '../../../lib/get-files-in-dir'
 
 export type AppLoaderOptions = {
   name: string
@@ -558,13 +559,8 @@ const nextAppLoader: AppLoader = async function nextAppLoader() {
       return existingFiles.has(fileName)
     }
     try {
-      const files = await fs.readdir(dirname, { withFileTypes: true })
-      const fileNames = new Set<string>()
-      for (const file of files) {
-        if (file.isFile()) {
-          fileNames.add(file.name)
-        }
-      }
+      const files = await getFilesInDir(dirname)
+      const fileNames = new Set<string>(files)
       filesInDir.set(dirname, fileNames)
       return fileNames.has(fileName)
     } catch (err) {
diff --git a/packages/next/src/lib/flat-readdir.ts b/packages/next/src/lib/flat-readdir.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 6d2f901804..0000000000
--- a/packages/next/src/lib/flat-readdir.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-import { join } from 'path'
-import fs from 'fs/promises'
-
-export async function flatReaddir(dir: string, includes: RegExp[]) {
-  const dirents = await fs.opendir(dir)
-  const result = []
-
-  for await (const part of dirents) {
-    let shouldOmit =
-      part.isDirectory() || !includes.some((include) => include.test(part.name))
-
-    if (part.isSymbolicLink()) {
-      const stats = await fs.stat(join(dir, part.name))
-      shouldOmit = stats.isDirectory()
-    }
-
-    if (!shouldOmit) {
-      result.push(join(dir, part.name))
-    }
-  }
-
-  return result
-}
diff --git a/packages/next/src/lib/get-files-in-dir.ts b/packages/next/src/lib/get-files-in-dir.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5268b5d305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/next/src/lib/get-files-in-dir.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { join } from 'path'
+import fs from 'fs/promises'
+import type { Dirent, StatsBase } from 'fs'
+
+export async function getFilesInDir(path: string): Promise<string[]> {
+  const dir = await fs.opendir(path)
+  const results = []
+
+  for await (const file of dir) {
+    let resolvedFile: Dirent | StatsBase<number> = file
+
+    if (file.isSymbolicLink()) {
+      resolvedFile = await fs.stat(join(path, file.name))
+    }
+
+    if (resolvedFile.isFile()) {
+      results.push(file.name)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return results
+}
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/README.md b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dca091eaf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Symbolic File Links
+
+This test represents what the Next.js file structure may look like when run
+under a build orchestrator, such as bazel, where its sandbox sets up all files
+to be symlinks to their original source.
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/next.config.js b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/next.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..807126e4cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/next.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+/**
+ * @type {import('next').NextConfig}
+ */
+const nextConfig = {}
+
+module.exports = nextConfig
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/app/layout.tsx b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/app/layout.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e7077399c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/app/layout.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+export default function Root({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
+  return (
+    <html>
+      <body>{children}</body>
+    </html>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/app/page.tsx b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/app/page.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ff7159d914
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/app/page.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+export default function Page() {
+  return <p>hello world</p>
+}
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/i18n.ts b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/i18n.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4c1d75aaa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/somewhere-else/src/i18n.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { cookies } from 'next/headers'
+
+// The purpose of this file is to demonstrate that without proper symbolic file checking
+// next accidentally marks files in the root of the project as client files.
+export default function () {
+  const locale = cookies().get('locale')?.value ?? 'en'
+
+  return {
+    locale,
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/app/layout.tsx b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/app/layout.tsx
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..09aaf24b29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/app/layout.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../somewhere-else/src/app/layout.tsx
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/app/page.tsx b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/app/page.tsx
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..f451aac13b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/app/page.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../somewhere-else/src/app/page.tsx
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/i18n.ts b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/i18n.ts
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..83d640a11f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/src/i18n.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../somewhere-else/src/i18n.ts
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/symbolic-file-links.test.ts b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/symbolic-file-links.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9f337b129a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/production/app-dir/symbolic-file-links/symbolic-file-links.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { createNextDescribe } from 'e2e-utils'
+
+createNextDescribe(
+  'symbolic-file-links',
+  {
+    files: __dirname,
+  },
+  ({ next }) => {
+    // Recommended for tests that check HTML. Cheerio is a HTML parser that has a jQuery like API.
+    it('should work using cheerio', async () => {
+      const $ = await next.render$('/')
+      expect($('p').text()).toBe('hello world')
+    })
+
+    // Recommended for tests that need a full browser
+    it('should work using browser', async () => {
+      const browser = await next.browser('/')
+      expect(await browser.elementByCss('p').text()).toBe('hello world')
+    })
+
+    // In case you need the full HTML. Can also use $.html() with cheerio.
+    it('should work with html', async () => {
+      const html = await next.render('/')
+      expect(html).toContain('hello world')
+    })
+
+    // In case you need to test the response object
+    it('should work with fetch', async () => {
+      const res = await next.fetch('/')
+      const html = await res.text()
+      expect(html).toContain('hello world')
+    })
+  }
+)
diff --git a/test/unit/get-files-in-dir.test.ts b/test/unit/get-files-in-dir.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea6c21d8f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/get-files-in-dir.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/* eslint-env jest */
+
+import { getFilesInDir } from 'next/dist/lib/get-files-in-dir'
+import { join } from 'path'
+import fs from 'fs-extra'
+
+const testDir = join(__dirname, 'get-files-in-dir-test')
+
+const srcDir = join(testDir, 'src')
+
+const setupTestDir = async () => {
+  const paths = [
+    '.hidden',
+    'file',
+    'folder1/file1',
+    'folder1/file2',
+    'link',
+    'linkfolder',
+  ]
+
+  await fs.ensureDir(testDir)
+
+  // create src directory structure
+  await fs.ensureDir(srcDir)
+  await fs.outputFile(join(srcDir, '.hidden'), 'hidden')
+  await fs.outputFile(join(srcDir, 'file'), 'file')
+  await fs.outputFile(join(srcDir, 'folder1', 'file1'), 'file1')
+  await fs.outputFile(join(srcDir, 'folder1', 'file2'), 'file2')
+  await fs.ensureSymlink(join(srcDir, 'file'), join(srcDir, 'link'))
+  await fs.ensureSymlink(join(srcDir, 'link'), join(srcDir, 'link-level-2'))
+  await fs.ensureSymlink(
+    join(srcDir, 'link-level-2'),
+    join(srcDir, 'link-level-3')
+  )
+  await fs.ensureSymlink(join(srcDir, 'folder1'), join(srcDir, 'linkfolder'))
+  return paths
+}
+
+describe('getFilesInDir', () => {
+  if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+    it('should skip on windows to avoid symlink issues', () => {})
+    return
+  }
+  afterAll(() => fs.remove(testDir))
+
+  it('should work', async () => {
+    await fs.remove(testDir)
+    await setupTestDir()
+
+    expect(await getFilesInDir(srcDir)).toIncludeAllMembers([
+      '.hidden',
+      'file',
+      'link',
+      'link-level-2',
+      'link-level-3',
+    ])
+  })
+})