diff --git a/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/sources/algorithms/copyPromise.ts b/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/sources/algorithms/copyPromise.ts
index b6b0b85d6723..f60b514eeb01 100644
--- a/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/sources/algorithms/copyPromise.ts
+++ b/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/sources/algorithms/copyPromise.ts
@@ -171,6 +171,28 @@ async function copyFolder<P1 extends Path, P2 extends Path>(prelayout: Operation
   return updated;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Determines whether a hard link error should trigger a copy fallback.
+ *
+ * - EXDEV:  cross-device link (index and project on different volumes)
+ * - EMLINK: too many links (inode limit on Linux/macOS)
+ * - UNKNOWN + link syscall: NTFS hard link limit on Windows (1024 per file);
+ *   libuv does not map ERROR_TOO_MANY_LINKS to EMLINK
+ * - EPERM + link syscall: insufficient privileges for hard links (e.g.
+ *   Windows without Developer Mode enabled)
+ */
+function shouldFallbackToCopy(err: any): boolean {
+  if (err.code === `EXDEV`)
+    return true;
+  if (err.code === `EMLINK`)
+    return true;
+  if (err.code === `UNKNOWN` && err.syscall === `link`)
+    return true;
+  if (err.code === `EPERM` && err.syscall === `link`)
+    return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
 async function copyFileViaIndex<P1 extends Path, P2 extends Path>(prelayout: Operations, postlayout: Operations, destinationFs: FakeFS<P1>, destination: P1, destinationStat: Stats | null, sourceFs: FakeFS<P2>, source: P2, sourceStat: Stats, opts: CopyOptions<P1>, linkStrategy: HardlinkFromIndexStrategy<P1>) {
   const sourceHash = await sourceFs.checksumFilePromise(source, {algorithm: `sha1`});
 
@@ -264,7 +286,19 @@ async function copyFileViaIndex<P1 extends Path, P2 extends Path>(prelayout: Ope
     }
 
     if (!destinationStat) {
-      await destinationFs.linkPromise(indexPath, destination);
+      try {
+        await destinationFs.linkPromise(indexPath, destination);
+      } catch (err) {
+        if (shouldFallbackToCopy(err)) {
+          const content = await destinationFs.readFilePromise(indexPath);
+          await destinationFs.writeFilePromise(destination, content);
+          if (sourceMode !== defaultMode) {
+            await destinationFs.chmodPromise(destination, sourceMode);
+          }
+        } else {
+          throw err;
+        }
+      }
     }
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/tests/copyPromise.test.ts b/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/tests/copyPromise.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7c1c2cd9d9fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/yarnpkg-fslib/tests/copyPromise.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,192 @@
+import {NodeFS}               from '../sources/NodeFS';
+import {xfs, ppath, Filename} from '../sources';
+import {setupCopyIndex}       from '../sources';
+
+const nodeFs = new NodeFS();
+
+function makeLinkError(code: string, syscall = `link`): NodeJS.ErrnoException {
+  const err: NodeJS.ErrnoException = new Error(`${code}: simulated link failure`);
+  err.code = code;
+  err.syscall = syscall;
+  return err;
+}
+
+describe(`copyPromise`, () => {
+  describe(`HardlinkFromIndex fallback`, () => {
+    async function setupIndexEnv() {
+      const tmpdir = await xfs.mktempPromise();
+      const indexPath = ppath.join(tmpdir, `index` as Filename);
+      await setupCopyIndex(nodeFs, {indexPath});
+
+      const sourceDir = ppath.join(tmpdir, `source` as Filename);
+      const destDir = ppath.join(tmpdir, `dest` as Filename);
+
+      await xfs.mkdirPromise(sourceDir);
+      await xfs.mkdirPromise(destDir);
+
+      const sourceFile = ppath.join(sourceDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+      await xfs.writeFilePromise(sourceFile, `Hello World`);
+
+      return {tmpdir, indexPath, sourceDir, destDir, sourceFile};
+    }
+
+    it(`should hardlink from index under normal conditions`, async () => {
+      const {indexPath, sourceFile, destDir} = await setupIndexEnv();
+      const destFile = ppath.join(destDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+
+      await nodeFs.copyPromise(destFile, sourceFile, {
+        linkStrategy: {type: `HardlinkFromIndex`, indexPath, autoRepair: true},
+        stableTime: true,
+        overwrite: true,
+        stableSort: true,
+      });
+
+      await expect(xfs.readFilePromise(destFile, `utf8`)).resolves.toBe(`Hello World`);
+
+      const destStat = await xfs.statPromise(destFile);
+      expect(destStat.nlink).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+    });
+
+    for (const errorCode of [`EXDEV`, `EMLINK`]) {
+      it(`should fall back to copy on ${errorCode}`, async () => {
+        const {indexPath, sourceFile, destDir} = await setupIndexEnv();
+        const destFile = ppath.join(destDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+
+        const originalLink = nodeFs.linkPromise.bind(nodeFs);
+        let linkCallCount = 0;
+        const spy = jest.spyOn(nodeFs, `linkPromise`).mockImplementation(async (existingPath, newPath) => {
+          linkCallCount++;
+          // Allow the first link (temp → index), fail the second (index → destination)
+          if (linkCallCount <= 1)
+            return originalLink(existingPath, newPath);
+          throw makeLinkError(errorCode);
+        });
+
+        try {
+          await nodeFs.copyPromise(destFile, sourceFile, {
+            linkStrategy: {type: `HardlinkFromIndex`, indexPath, autoRepair: true},
+            stableTime: true,
+            overwrite: true,
+            stableSort: true,
+          });
+
+          await expect(xfs.readFilePromise(destFile, `utf8`)).resolves.toBe(`Hello World`);
+
+          // Destination should be a copy, not a hard link (nlink === 1)
+          const destStat = await xfs.statPromise(destFile);
+          expect(destStat.nlink).toBe(1);
+        } finally {
+          spy.mockRestore();
+        }
+      });
+    }
+
+    it(`should fall back to copy on UNKNOWN with link syscall (NTFS limit)`, async () => {
+      const {indexPath, sourceFile, destDir} = await setupIndexEnv();
+      const destFile = ppath.join(destDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+
+      const originalLink = nodeFs.linkPromise.bind(nodeFs);
+      let linkCallCount = 0;
+      const spy = jest.spyOn(nodeFs, `linkPromise`).mockImplementation(async (existingPath, newPath) => {
+        linkCallCount++;
+        if (linkCallCount <= 1)
+          return originalLink(existingPath, newPath);
+        throw makeLinkError(`UNKNOWN`, `link`);
+      });
+
+      try {
+        await nodeFs.copyPromise(destFile, sourceFile, {
+          linkStrategy: {type: `HardlinkFromIndex`, indexPath, autoRepair: true},
+          stableTime: true,
+          overwrite: true,
+          stableSort: true,
+        });
+
+        await expect(xfs.readFilePromise(destFile, `utf8`)).resolves.toBe(`Hello World`);
+      } finally {
+        spy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it(`should fall back to copy on EPERM with link syscall`, async () => {
+      const {indexPath, sourceFile, destDir} = await setupIndexEnv();
+      const destFile = ppath.join(destDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+
+      const originalLink = nodeFs.linkPromise.bind(nodeFs);
+      let linkCallCount = 0;
+      const spy = jest.spyOn(nodeFs, `linkPromise`).mockImplementation(async (existingPath, newPath) => {
+        linkCallCount++;
+        if (linkCallCount <= 1)
+          return originalLink(existingPath, newPath);
+        throw makeLinkError(`EPERM`, `link`);
+      });
+
+      try {
+        await nodeFs.copyPromise(destFile, sourceFile, {
+          linkStrategy: {type: `HardlinkFromIndex`, indexPath, autoRepair: true},
+          stableTime: true,
+          overwrite: true,
+          stableSort: true,
+        });
+
+        await expect(xfs.readFilePromise(destFile, `utf8`)).resolves.toBe(`Hello World`);
+      } finally {
+        spy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it(`should NOT fall back on UNKNOWN without link syscall`, async () => {
+      const {indexPath, sourceFile, destDir} = await setupIndexEnv();
+      const destFile = ppath.join(destDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+
+      const originalLink = nodeFs.linkPromise.bind(nodeFs);
+      let linkCallCount = 0;
+      const spy = jest.spyOn(nodeFs, `linkPromise`).mockImplementation(async (existingPath, newPath) => {
+        linkCallCount++;
+        if (linkCallCount <= 1)
+          return originalLink(existingPath, newPath);
+        throw makeLinkError(`UNKNOWN`, `open`);
+      });
+
+      try {
+        await expect(
+          nodeFs.copyPromise(destFile, sourceFile, {
+            linkStrategy: {type: `HardlinkFromIndex`, indexPath, autoRepair: true},
+            stableTime: true,
+            overwrite: true,
+            stableSort: true,
+          }),
+        ).rejects.toMatchObject({code: `UNKNOWN`});
+      } finally {
+        spy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it(`should propagate non-link errors`, async () => {
+      const {indexPath, sourceFile, destDir} = await setupIndexEnv();
+      const destFile = ppath.join(destDir, `file.txt` as Filename);
+
+      const originalLink = nodeFs.linkPromise.bind(nodeFs);
+      let linkCallCount = 0;
+      const spy = jest.spyOn(nodeFs, `linkPromise`).mockImplementation(async (existingPath, newPath) => {
+        linkCallCount++;
+        if (linkCallCount <= 1)
+          return originalLink(existingPath, newPath);
+        throw makeLinkError(`EACCES`, `link`);
+      });
+
+      try {
+        await expect(
+          nodeFs.copyPromise(destFile, sourceFile, {
+            linkStrategy: {type: `HardlinkFromIndex`, indexPath, autoRepair: true},
+            stableTime: true,
+            overwrite: true,
+            stableSort: true,
+          }),
+        ).rejects.toMatchObject({code: `EACCES`});
+      } finally {
+        spy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+  });
+});