diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/PluginsService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/PluginsService.java
index 4cd5f114616..5ebd43d5026 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/PluginsService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/PluginsService.java
@@ -316,7 +316,8 @@ public class PluginsService extends AbstractComponent {
                 // gather urls for jar files
                 try (DirectoryStream<Path> jarStream = Files.newDirectoryStream(module, "*.jar")) {
                     for (Path jar : jarStream) {
-                        bundle.urls.add(jar.toUri().toURL());
+                        // normalize with toRealPath to get symlinks out of our hair
+                        bundle.urls.add(jar.toRealPath().toUri().toURL());
                     }
                 }
                 bundles.add(bundle);
@@ -357,7 +358,8 @@ public class PluginsService extends AbstractComponent {
                     // a jvm plugin: gather urls for jar files
                     try (DirectoryStream<Path> jarStream = Files.newDirectoryStream(plugin, "*.jar")) {
                         for (Path jar : jarStream) {
-                            urls.add(jar.toUri().toURL());
+                            // normalize with toRealPath to get symlinks out of our hair
+                            urls.add(jar.toRealPath().toUri().toURL());
                         }
                     }
                 }