diff --git a/conf.lua b/conf.lua
index cf02b9d7..e96a18a7 100644
--- a/conf.lua
+++ b/conf.lua
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 function love.conf(t)
+  -- PhysFS ignores symlinks unless told otherwise, so a mod dev-linked into
+  -- mods/ (ln -s, matching the mklink /J workflow on Windows) is invisible
+  -- to love.filesystem.getDirectoryItems without this.
+  love.filesystem.setSymlinksEnabled(true)
+
   local editor = os.getenv("POKEPORT_EDITOR") == "1"
   local developer = os.getenv("POKEPORT_DEV") == "1"
   if arg then
diff --git a/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua b/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua
index 62f37497..3a7e9062 100644
--- a/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua
+++ b/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua
@@ -223,7 +223,9 @@ local function discover()
   for _, name in ipairs(fs.getDirectoryItems("mods")) do
     local path = "mods/" .. name
     local info = fs.getInfo(path)
-    if info and info.type == "directory" then
+    -- a dev-linked mod dir (ln -s) reports type "symlink" even with
+    -- setSymlinksEnabled(true); see the matching note in Loader:_discover.
+    if info and (info.type == "directory" or info.type == "symlink") then
       local raw = fs.read(path .. "/manifest.json")
       if raw then
         local manifest = decodeManifest(raw, path)
diff --git a/src/mods/Loader.lua b/src/mods/Loader.lua
index cc418493..ba92fa95 100644
--- a/src/mods/Loader.lua
+++ b/src/mods/Loader.lua
@@ -206,7 +206,11 @@ function Loader:_discover()
       for _, name in ipairs(self.fs.getDirectoryItems(root)) do
         local path = root .. "/" .. name
         local info = self.fs.getInfo(path)
-        if info and info.type == "directory" then
+        -- a dev-linked mod dir (ln -s) reports type "symlink" even with
+        -- setSymlinksEnabled(true) -- PhysFS never resolves the symlink's
+        -- own getInfo, only traversal into it. readManifest below still
+        -- correctly no-ops on a symlink that isn't a directory.
+        if info and (info.type == "directory" or info.type == "symlink") then
           local manifest, err = readManifest(self.fs, path)
           if manifest then
             if self.mods[manifest.id] then