diff --git a/beets/util/__init__.py b/beets/util/__init__.py
index 892c11167..2592f612a 100644
--- a/beets/util/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/util/__init__.py
@@ -577,10 +577,14 @@ def hardlink(path: bytes, dest: bytes, replace: bool = False):
     if samefile(path, dest):
         return
 
-    if os.path.exists(syspath(dest)) and not replace:
+    # Dereference symlinks, expand "~", and convert relative paths to absolute
+    origin_path = Path(os.fsdecode(path)).expanduser().resolve()
+    dest_path = Path(os.fsdecode(dest)).expanduser().resolve()
+
+    if dest_path.exists() and not replace:
         raise FilesystemError("file exists", "rename", (path, dest))
     try:
-        os.link(syspath(path), syspath(dest))
+        dest_path.hardlink_to(origin_path)
     except NotImplementedError:
         raise FilesystemError(
             "OS does not support hard links.link",
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 906897015..e6821327e 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ New features:
 
 Bug fixes:
 
+- When hardlinking from a symlink (e.g. importing a symlink with hardlinking
+  enabled), dereference the symlink then hardlink, rather than creating a new
+  (potentially broken) symlink :bug:`5676`
 - :doc:`/plugins/spotify`: The plugin now gracefully handles audio-features API
   deprecation (HTTP 403 errors). When a 403 error is encountered from the
   audio-features endpoint, the plugin logs a warning once and skips audio
diff --git a/test/test_files.py b/test/test_files.py
index 8b08a3fab..631b56b72 100644
--- a/test/test_files.py
+++ b/test/test_files.py
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ class MoveTest(BeetsTestCase):
         super().setUp()
 
         # make a temporary file
-        self.path = self.temp_dir_path / "temp.mp3"
+        self.temp_music_file_name = "temp.mp3"
+        self.path = self.temp_dir_path / self.temp_music_file_name
         shutil.copy(self.resource_path, self.path)
 
         # add it to a temporary library
@@ -197,6 +198,21 @@ class MoveTest(BeetsTestCase):
         self.i.move(operation=MoveOperation.HARDLINK)
         assert self.i.path == util.normpath(self.dest)
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(_common.HAVE_HARDLINK, "need hardlinks")
+    def test_hardlink_from_symlink(self):
+        link_path = join(self.temp_dir, b"temp_link.mp3")
+        link_source = join("./", self.temp_music_file_name)
+        os.symlink(syspath(link_source), syspath(link_path))
+        self.i.path = link_path
+        self.i.move(operation=MoveOperation.HARDLINK)
+
+        s1 = os.stat(syspath(self.path))
+        s2 = os.stat(syspath(self.dest))
+        assert (s1[stat.ST_INO], s1[stat.ST_DEV]) == (
+            s2[stat.ST_INO],
+            s2[stat.ST_DEV],
+        )
+
 
 class HelperTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ancestry_works_on_file(self):