diff --git a/gap/directories.gd b/gap/directories.gd
index b2db6f0..e576570 100644
--- a/gap/directories.gd
+++ b/gap/directories.gd
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 DeclareGlobalFunction("PKGMAN_PackageDir");
+DeclareGlobalFunction("PKGMAN_RealPath");
 DeclareGlobalFunction("PKGMAN_SetCustomPackageDir");
 DeclareGlobalFunction("PKGMAN_CreateDirRecursively");
 DeclareGlobalFunction("PKGMAN_InsertPackageDirectory");
diff --git a/gap/directories.gi b/gap/directories.gi
index 782c8e0..be3e1d6 100644
--- a/gap/directories.gi
+++ b/gap/directories.gi
@@ -16,6 +16,22 @@ function()
   return dir;
 end);
 
+# Resolve symlinks in <path> where GAP supports it (4.15 or newer), else
+# return <path> unchanged. GAP 4.17 and newer store root and package
+# directories with symlinks resolved (gap-system/gap#5930), so paths must be
+# compared in this form (e.g. /var is /private/var on macOS).
+InstallGlobalFunction(PKGMAN_RealPath,
+function(path)
+  local res;
+  if IsBound(GAP_realpath) then
+    res := GAP_realpath(path);
+    if res <> fail then
+      return res;
+    fi;
+  fi;
+  return path;
+end);
+
 InstallGlobalFunction(PKGMAN_SetCustomPackageDir,
 function(dir)
   # Set the variable
@@ -120,8 +136,11 @@ end);
 
 InstallGlobalFunction(PKGMAN_RemoveDir,
 function(dir)
+  local realdir, pkgdir;
+  realdir := PKGMAN_RealPath(dir);
+  pkgdir := PKGMAN_RealPath(PKGMAN_PackageDir());
   # this 'if' statement is a paranoid check - it should always be true
-  if StartsWith(dir, PKGMAN_PackageDir()) and dir <> PKGMAN_PackageDir() then
+  if StartsWith(realdir, pkgdir) and realdir <> pkgdir then
     RemoveDirectoryRecursively(dir);
     Info(InfoPackageManager, 2, "Removed directory ", dir);
     PKGMAN_RefreshPackageInfo();
diff --git a/gap/packageinfo.gi b/gap/packageinfo.gi
index dc5a106..7be724b 100644
--- a/gap/packageinfo.gi
+++ b/gap/packageinfo.gi
@@ -86,9 +86,10 @@ InstallGlobalFunction(PKGMAN_UserPackageInfo,
 function(name)
   local user_pkg_dir, allinfo, userinfo;
 
-  user_pkg_dir := PKGMAN_PackageDir();
+  user_pkg_dir := PKGMAN_RealPath(PKGMAN_PackageDir());
   allinfo := PackageInfo(name);
-  userinfo := Filtered(allinfo, i -> StartsWith(i.InstallationPath, user_pkg_dir));
+  userinfo := Filtered(allinfo,
+                       i -> StartsWith(PKGMAN_RealPath(i.InstallationPath), user_pkg_dir));
 
   # Package not found
   if ValueOption("warnIfNone") = true and Length(userinfo) = 0 then
diff --git a/tst/symlink.tst b/tst/symlink.tst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf2a10d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tst/symlink.tst
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# If the user package directory is given through a symlink, it must still
+# match the resolved path GAP 4.17 and newer store (gap-system/gap#5930).
+gap> olddir := PKGMAN_CustomPackageDir;;
+gap> tmp := DirectoryTemporary();;
+gap> CreateDir(Filename(tmp, "real"));
+true
+gap> PKGMAN_Exec(Filename(tmp, ""), "ln", "-s", "real", "link");
+rec( code := 0, output := "" )
+gap> PKGMAN_Exec(Filename(tmp, ""), "cp", "-r",
+>   Filename(DirectoriesPackageLibrary("PackageManager", "tst/data/new"), "pmdummy"),
+>   "real/");
+rec( code := 0, output := "" )
+gap> PKGMAN_InsertPackageDirectory(Filename(tmp, "real"));;
+gap> PKGMAN_CustomPackageDir := Filename(tmp, "link");;
+gap> Length(PKGMAN_UserPackageInfo("pmdummy"));
+1
+gap> RemovePackage("pmdummy", false);
+true
+gap> PKGMAN_CustomPackageDir := olddir;;
diff --git a/tst/testall.g b/tst/testall.g
index c99cea9..79a95c4 100644
--- a/tst/testall.g
+++ b/tst/testall.g
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ fi;
 if not CompareVersionNumbers(version, ">=4.14") then
   Add(PKGMAN_ExcludeTestFiles, "RecentGapOnly.tst");
 fi;
+if not CompareVersionNumbers(version, ">=4.15") then
+  Add(PKGMAN_ExcludeTestFiles, "symlink.tst");  # needs GAP_realpath
+fi;
 
 # Run tests
 TestDirectory(DirectoriesPackageLibrary("PackageManager", "tst"),