diff --git a/e2e-win/symlink.Tests.ps1 b/e2e-win/symlink.Tests.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9f10f7cbf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e-win/symlink.Tests.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+Describe 'windows runtime symlink' {
+
+    BeforeAll {
+        $cfg = ".\mise.local.toml"
+        $tool = "yq"
+
+        $content = @"
+[tools]
+$tool = "latest"
+"@
+        $content | Out-File $cfg
+        Get-Content $cfg
+    }
+
+    AfterAll {
+        Remove-Item $cfg -ErrorAction Ignore
+    }
+
+    It 'version is correct, not latest' {
+        mise install yq@4.45.4
+
+        # correct output
+        # mise/2025.5.15/bin/mise ls yq
+        # Tool  Version  Source                                        Requested
+        # yq    4.45.4   D:\Users\qianlongzt\.config\mise\config.toml  latest
+
+        # wrong output
+        # mise/2025.5.16/bin/mise ls yq
+        # Tool  Version  Source                                        Requested
+        # yq    latest   D:\Users\qianlongzt\.config\mise\config.toml  latest
+        # yq    4.45.4
+
+        # https://github.com/jdx/mise/discussions/5254
+
+        $output = mise ls --json yq
+        $output | jq '.[] | select(.source ) | .version' | Should -Be '"4.45.4"'
+        $output | jq '.[] | select(.version == "latest" ) | .version' | Should -Be $null
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/file.rs b/src/file.rs
index 131cc54cf9..c58a9cb76c 100644
--- a/src/file.rs
+++ b/src/file.rs
@@ -393,13 +393,14 @@ pub fn make_symlink_or_file(target: &Path, link: &Path) -> Result<()> {
 }
 
 pub fn resolve_symlink(link: &Path) -> Result<Option<PathBuf>> {
-    if !link.is_symlink() {
-        return Ok(None);
-    }
-    if cfg!(windows) {
+    // Windows symlink are write in file currently
+    // may be changed to symlink in the future
+    if link.is_symlink() {
+        Ok(Some(fs::read_link(link)?))
+    } else if link.is_file() {
         Ok(Some(fs::read_to_string(link)?.into()))
     } else {
-        Ok(Some(fs::read_link(link)?))
+        Ok(None)
     }
 }