diff --git a/src/scikit_build_core/program_search.py b/src/scikit_build_core/program_search.py
index 4a2844d17..77bcc9117 100644
--- a/src/scikit_build_core/program_search.py
+++ b/src/scikit_build_core/program_search.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def _get_cmake_path(*, module: bool = True) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
     for candidate in candidates:
         cmake_path = shutil.which(candidate)
         if cmake_path is not None:
-            yield Path(cmake_path).resolve()
+            yield Path(cmake_path)
 
 
 def _get_ninja_path(*, module: bool = True) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def _get_ninja_path(*, module: bool = True) -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
     for candidate in candidates:
         ninja_path = shutil.which(candidate)
         if ninja_path is not None:
-            yield Path(ninja_path).resolve()
+            yield Path(ninja_path)
 
 
 def get_cmake_programs(*, module: bool = True) -> Generator[Program, None, None]:
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ def get_make_programs() -> Generator[Path, None, None]:
     for candidate in candidates:
         make_path = shutil.which(candidate)
         if make_path is not None:
-            yield Path(make_path).resolve()
+            yield Path(make_path)
 
 
 def best_program(
diff --git a/tests/test_cmake_config.py b/tests/test_cmake_config.py
index 1901ec952..762bf0295 100644
--- a/tests/test_cmake_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_cmake_config.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def cmake_path() -> str:
         print(cmake_str)
         if cmake_str is None:
             pytest.skip("cmake must be installed for this test")
-        return os.fspath(Path(cmake_str).resolve())
+        return os.fspath(Path(cmake_str))
 
     return os.fspath(Path(cmake.CMAKE_BIN_DIR) / "cmake")
 
diff --git a/tests/test_get_requires.py b/tests/test_get_requires.py
index 42dabe936..647625c4b 100644
--- a/tests/test_get_requires.py
+++ b/tests/test_get_requires.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def which_mock(name: str) -> str | None:
 def test_get_requires_for_build_wheel(fp, monkeypatch):
     # This needs to be passed due to packaging.tags 22 extra checks if macos 10.16 is reported
     fp.pass_command([sys.executable, fp.any()])
-    cmake = Path("cmake/path").resolve()
+    cmake = Path("cmake/path")
     monkeypatch.setattr(shutil, "which", which_mock)
     monkeypatch.delenv("CMAKE_GENERATOR", raising=False)
     fp.register([os.fspath(cmake), "--version"], stdout="3.14.0")
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def test_get_requires_for_build_wheel(fp, monkeypatch):
 
 def test_get_requires_for_build_wheel_uneeded(fp, monkeypatch):
     fp.pass_command([sys.executable, fp.any()])
-    cmake = Path("cmake/path").resolve()
+    cmake = Path("cmake/path")
     monkeypatch.setattr(shutil, "which", which_mock)
     monkeypatch.delenv("CMAKE_GENERATOR", raising=False)
     fp.register([os.fspath(cmake), "--version"], stdout="3.18.0")
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def test_get_requires_for_build_wheel_uneeded(fp, monkeypatch):
 
 def test_get_requires_for_build_wheel_settings(fp, monkeypatch):
     fp.pass_command([sys.executable, fp.any()])
-    cmake = Path("cmake/path").resolve()
+    cmake = Path("cmake/path")
     monkeypatch.setattr(shutil, "which", which_mock)
     monkeypatch.delenv("CMAKE_GENERATOR", raising=False)
     fp.register([os.fspath(cmake), "--version"], stdout="3.18.0")
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def test_get_requires_for_build_wheel_pyproject(fp, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
         minimum-version = "3.21"
         """
     )
-    cmake = Path("cmake/path").resolve()
+    cmake = Path("cmake/path")
     monkeypatch.setattr(shutil, "which", which_mock)
     monkeypatch.delenv("CMAKE_GENERATOR", raising=False)
     fp.register([os.fspath(cmake), "--version"], stdout="3.18.0")
diff --git a/tests/test_program_search.py b/tests/test_program_search.py
index d3e52add9..a47757113 100644
--- a/tests/test_program_search.py
+++ b/tests/test_program_search.py
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ def test_get_ninja_programs_cmake_module(monkeypatch):
 
 def test_get_cmake_programs_all(monkeypatch, fp):
     monkeypatch.setattr("shutil.which", lambda x: x)
-    cmake_path = Path("cmake").resolve()
-    cmake3_path = Path("cmake3").resolve()
+    cmake_path = Path("cmake")
+    cmake3_path = Path("cmake3")
     fp.register(
         [os.fspath(cmake_path), "--version"],
         stdout="cmake version 3.20.0\n\nCMake suite maintained and supported by Kitware (kitware.com/cmake).",
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ def test_get_cmake_programs_all(monkeypatch, fp):
 
 def test_get_ninja_programs_all(monkeypatch, fp):
     monkeypatch.setattr("shutil.which", lambda x: x if "ninja" in x else None)
-    ninja_path = Path("ninja").resolve()
-    ninja_build_path = Path("ninja-build").resolve()
+    ninja_path = Path("ninja")
+    ninja_build_path = Path("ninja-build")
     fp.register(
         [os.fspath(ninja_path), "--version"], stdout="1.10.1.git.kitware.jobserver-1"
     )
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ def test_get_ninja_programs_all(monkeypatch, fp):
 def test_get_cmake_programs_malformed(monkeypatch, fp, caplog):
     caplog.set_level(logging.WARNING)
     monkeypatch.setattr("shutil.which", lambda x: x)
-    cmake_path = Path("cmake").resolve()
-    cmake3_path = Path("cmake3").resolve()
+    cmake_path = Path("cmake")
+    cmake3_path = Path("cmake3")
     fp.register([os.fspath(cmake_path), "--version"], stdout="scrambled output\n")
     fp.register([os.fspath(cmake3_path), "--version"], stdout="cmake version 3.17.3\n")
     programs = list(get_cmake_programs(module=False))