diff --git a/packages/grafana-toolkit/src/plugins/manifest.ts b/packages/grafana-toolkit/src/plugins/manifest.ts
index 91c64bbf039..66c5bff94f6 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-toolkit/src/plugins/manifest.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-toolkit/src/plugins/manifest.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ async function* walk(dir: string, baseDir: string): AsyncGenerator<string, any,
     } else if (d.isFile()) {
       yield path.posix.relative(baseDir, entry);
     } else if (d.isSymbolicLink()) {
-      const realPath = fs.realpathSync(entry);
+      const realPath = await (fs.promises as any).realpath(entry);
       if (!realPath.startsWith(baseDir)) {
         throw new Error(
           `symbolic link ${path.posix.relative(
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ async function* walk(dir: string, baseDir: string): AsyncGenerator<string, any,
           )} targets a file outside of the base directory: ${baseDir}`
         );
       }
-      yield path.posix.relative(baseDir, entry);
+      // if resolved symlink target is a file include it in the manifest
+      const stats = await (fs.promises as any).stat(realPath);
+      if (stats.isFile()) {
+        yield path.posix.relative(baseDir, entry);
+      }
     }
   }
 }