diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/lib/node.js b/workspaces/arborist/lib/node.js
index c79bc0bd3a00b..abd54ffe9725a 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/lib/node.js
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/lib/node.js
@@ -1149,6 +1149,9 @@ class Node {
       for (const kid of node.children.values()) {
         kid.parent = this
       }
+      if (node.isLink && node.target) {
+        node.target.root = null
+      }
     }
 
     if (!node.isRoot) {
diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/tap-snapshots/test/arborist/reify.js.test.cjs b/workspaces/arborist/tap-snapshots/test/arborist/reify.js.test.cjs
index 49b02273ec59f..32b02494f7cf2 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/tap-snapshots/test/arborist/reify.js.test.cjs
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/tap-snapshots/test/arborist/reify.js.test.cjs
@@ -2228,19 +2228,6 @@ ArboristNode {
       "type": "prod",
     },
   },
-  "fsChildren": Set {
-    ArboristNode {
-      "dev": true,
-      "extraneous": true,
-      "location": "target",
-      "name": "target",
-      "optional": true,
-      "packageName": "ABBREV",
-      "path": "{CWD}/test/arborist/tap-testdir-reify-collide-case-variant-dep-names/target",
-      "peer": true,
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-    },
-  },
   "isProjectRoot": true,
   "location": "",
   "name": "tap-testdir-reify-collide-case-variant-dep-names",
@@ -2275,19 +2262,6 @@ ArboristNode {
       "type": "prod",
     },
   },
-  "fsChildren": Set {
-    ArboristNode {
-      "dev": true,
-      "extraneous": true,
-      "location": "target",
-      "name": "target",
-      "optional": true,
-      "packageName": "ABBREV",
-      "path": "{CWD}/test/arborist/tap-testdir-reify-collide-case-variant-dep-names/target",
-      "peer": true,
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-    },
-  },
   "isProjectRoot": true,
   "location": "",
   "name": "tap-testdir-reify-collide-case-variant-dep-names",