diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/config.spec.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/config.spec.ts
index 5cf98adaf2d835..5e9d809365d728 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/config.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/config.spec.ts
@@ -2017,6 +2017,28 @@ describe('loadConfigFromFile', () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe('root resolution', () => {
+  const fixtureRoot = path.resolve(
+    import.meta.dirname,
+    './fixtures/config/root-resolution',
+  )
+  const realDir = path.join(fixtureRoot, 'real')
+  const linkDir = path.join(fixtureRoot, 'link')
+
+  test('resolves a symlinked root to its real path', async () => {
+    const config = await resolveConfig({ root: linkDir }, 'serve')
+    expect(config.root).toBe(normalizePath(fs.realpathSync.native(realDir)))
+  })
+
+  test('keeps a symlinked root when resolve.preserveSymlinks is true', async () => {
+    const config = await resolveConfig(
+      { root: linkDir, resolve: { preserveSymlinks: true } },
+      'serve',
+    )
+    expect(config.root).toBe(normalizePath(linkDir))
+  })
+})
+
 describe('resolveServerOptions', () => {
   const warnFn = vi.fn()
   const logger = { warn: warnFn } as unknown as Logger
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/fixtures/config/root-resolution/link b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/fixtures/config/root-resolution/link
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000000..ac558a3e1bf444
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/fixtures/config/root-resolution/link
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+real
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/fixtures/config/root-resolution/real/.gitkeep b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/fixtures/config/root-resolution/real/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..8b137891791fe9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/fixtures/config/root-resolution/real/.gitkeep
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts
index 9fee3e59a93c77..fa3b5194188358 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts
@@ -1600,9 +1600,11 @@ export async function resolveConfig(
   let nonNormalizedResolvedRoot = config.root
     ? path.resolve(config.root)
     : process.cwd()
-  try {
-    nonNormalizedResolvedRoot = safeRealpathSync(nonNormalizedResolvedRoot)
-  } catch {}
+  if (!config.resolve?.preserveSymlinks) {
+    try {
+      nonNormalizedResolvedRoot = safeRealpathSync(nonNormalizedResolvedRoot)
+    } catch {}
+  }
   const resolvedRoot = normalizePath(nonNormalizedResolvedRoot)
 
   checkBadCharactersInPath(