diff --git a/internal/update/extract.go b/internal/update/extract.go
index ce0a5acbf..84b86ecef 100644
--- a/internal/update/extract.go
+++ b/internal/update/extract.go
@@ -53,6 +53,23 @@ func extractTarGz(archivePath string, destDir string) error {
 			if err := os.MkdirAll(target, 0o755); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+		case tar.TypeSymlink:
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(target), 0o755); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if filepath.IsAbs(header.Linkname) {
+				return fmt.Errorf("absolute symlink targets are not supported: %s -> %s", header.Name, header.Linkname)
+			}
+			// Verify that the symlink target, when resolved, does not escape destDir.
+			resolvedTarget := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(target), header.Linkname)
+			destDirClean := filepath.Clean(destDir)
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(resolvedTarget, destDirClean+string(os.PathSeparator)) && resolvedTarget != destDirClean {
+				return fmt.Errorf("archive symlink target escapes destination: %s -> %s", header.Name, header.Linkname)
+			}
+			_ = os.Remove(target)
+			if err := os.Symlink(header.Linkname, target); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		case tar.TypeReg:
 			if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(target), 0o755); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -90,8 +107,13 @@ func extractZip(archivePath string, destDir string) error {
 		// Release archives only ever contain regular files and directories;
 		// reject anything else (symlinks, devices) rather than silently write
 		// the link-target string (or other special content) out as an
-		// ordinary file — mirrors extractTarGz's rejection of non-regular tar
-		// entries.
+		// ordinary file. Unlike extractTarGz, zip symlinks stay rejected: the
+		// .zip path is the Windows release archive format, where
+		// filepath.IsAbs does not reliably reject a slash-rooted target like
+		// "/some/other/path" (Windows absolute paths need a drive letter or
+		// UNC prefix), and there is no current use case for symlinks in a
+		// Windows archive. The npm shim symlinks this feature exists for are
+		// packaged in the Unix/macOS .tar.gz archives, handled above.
 		if !entry.Mode().IsRegular() {
 			return fmt.Errorf("unsupported archive entry type for %s", entry.Name)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/update/extract_test.go b/internal/update/extract_test.go
index f8aaa8239..1742866ea 100644
--- a/internal/update/extract_test.go
+++ b/internal/update/extract_test.go
@@ -215,3 +215,96 @@ func TestFindByBasenameSearchesRecursively(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("findByBasename = %q, want empty", notFound)
 	}
 }
+
+func symlinksSupported(t *testing.T) bool {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	err := os.Symlink("target", filepath.Join(dir, "link"))
+	return err == nil
+}
+
+func TestExtractTarGzAllowsSafeSymlink(t *testing.T) {
+	if !symlinksSupported(t) {
+		t.Skip("symlinks not supported")
+	}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	archivePath := filepath.Join(dir, "archive.tar.gz")
+
+	file, err := os.Create(archivePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	gw := gzip.NewWriter(file)
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(gw)
+
+	h1 := &tar.Header{
+		Name:     "link.txt",
+		Typeflag: tar.TypeSymlink,
+		Linkname: "target.txt",
+	}
+	if err := tw.WriteHeader(h1); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("WriteHeader link: %v", err)
+	}
+	h2 := &tar.Header{
+		Name:     "target.txt",
+		Typeflag: tar.TypeReg,
+		Mode:     0o644,
+		Size:     12,
+	}
+	if err := tw.WriteHeader(h2); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("WriteHeader target: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := tw.Write([]byte("hello symbol")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Write target: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	tw.Close()
+	gw.Close()
+	file.Close()
+
+	destDir := filepath.Join(dir, "extracted")
+	if err := extractArchive(archivePath, destDir); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("extractArchive: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	targetPath := filepath.Join(destDir, "link.txt")
+	gotLink, err := os.Readlink(targetPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Readlink: %v", err)
+	}
+	if gotLink != "target.txt" {
+		t.Fatalf("link target = %q, want %q", gotLink, "target.txt")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractTarGzRejectsEscapingSymlink(t *testing.T) {
+	if !symlinksSupported(t) {
+		t.Skip("symlinks not supported")
+	}
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	archivePath := filepath.Join(dir, "archive.tar.gz")
+
+	file, err := os.Create(archivePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Create: %v", err)
+	}
+	gw := gzip.NewWriter(file)
+	tw := tar.NewWriter(gw)
+
+	h1 := &tar.Header{
+		Name:     "link.txt",
+		Typeflag: tar.TypeSymlink,
+		Linkname: "../../../outside.txt",
+	}
+	if err := tw.WriteHeader(h1); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("WriteHeader: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	tw.Close()
+	gw.Close()
+	file.Close()
+
+	destDir := filepath.Join(dir, "extracted")
+	if err := extractArchive(archivePath, destDir); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error extracting escaping symlink")
+	}
+}