diff --git a/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Filesystem.cpp b/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Filesystem.cpp
index 2e0e283359..08b6f21315 100644
--- a/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Filesystem.cpp
+++ b/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Filesystem.cpp
@@ -465,7 +465,17 @@ namespace AppInstaller::Filesystem
         {
             if (error.code().value() == ERROR_PRIVILEGE_NOT_HELD)
             {
-                return false;
+                // If symlink creation fails due to insufficient privileges,
+                // fall back to creating a hard link instead.
+                try
+                {
+                    std::filesystem::create_hard_link(target, link);
+                    return true;
+                }
+                catch (...)
+                {
+                    return false;
+                }
             }
             else
             {
diff --git a/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Public/winget/Filesystem.h b/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Public/winget/Filesystem.h
index 1a7df6aa28..ba4b5cf7bc 100644
--- a/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Public/winget/Filesystem.h
+++ b/src/AppInstallerSharedLib/Public/winget/Filesystem.h
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ namespace AppInstaller::Filesystem
 
     // Checks if the path is a symlink and exists.
     bool SymlinkExists(const std::filesystem::path& symlinkPath);
-    bool CreateSymlink(const std::filesystem::path& path, const std::filesystem::path& target);
 
     // Get expanded file system path.
     std::filesystem::path GetExpandedPath(const std::string& path);