diff --git a/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py b/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py
index 58d3992c..900450b5 100644
--- a/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py
+++ b/myst_parser/mdit_to_docutils/sphinx_.py
@@ -76,6 +76,25 @@ def _handle_relative_docs(self, destination: str) -> str:
             )
         return destination
 
+    def _link_target_path(self, path: str) -> str:
+        """Return the absolute path of a file that a link points to.
+
+        Like ``BuildEnvironment.relfn2path``, a path starting with ``/`` is
+        relative to the source directory, any other is relative to the
+        directory of the current document.
+        Unlike ``relfn2path``, symlinks are not followed:
+        a document is registered under the path of the symlink,
+        so the path of its target would not be found as a document.
+        """
+        env = self.sphinx_env
+        file_path = Path(path)
+        if file_path.parts[:1] in {("/",), ("\\",)}:
+            base = env.srcdir.joinpath(*file_path.parts[1:])
+        else:
+            doc_dir = env.doc2path(env.docname, base=False).parent
+            base = env.srcdir.joinpath(doc_dir, file_path)
+        return os.path.normpath(base)
+
     def render_link_project(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
         destination = cast(str, token.attrGet("href") or "")
         destination = destination.removeprefix("project:")
@@ -90,7 +109,7 @@ def render_link_project(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
         path_dest, *_path_ids = destination.split("#", maxsplit=1)
         path_id = _path_ids[0] if _path_ids else None
         explicit = (token.info != "auto") and (len(token.children or []) > 0)
-        _, abs_path = self.sphinx_env.relfn2path(path_dest, self.sphinx_env.docname)
+        abs_path = self._link_target_path(path_dest)
         docname = self.sphinx_env.path2doc(abs_path)
         if not docname:
             self.create_warning(
@@ -144,8 +163,7 @@ def render_link_unknown(self, token: SyntaxTreeNode) -> None:
 
         potential_path: Path | None = None
         if self.sphinx_env.srcdir:  # not set in some test situations
-            _, path_str = self.sphinx_env.relfn2path(path_dest, self.sphinx_env.docname)
-            potential_path = Path(path_str)
+            potential_path = Path(self._link_target_path(path_dest))
 
         if potential_path and potential_path.is_file():
             docname = self.sphinx_env.path2doc(str(potential_path))
diff --git a/tests/test_sphinx/test_symlinked_docs.py b/tests/test_sphinx/test_symlinked_docs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01e471c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_sphinx/test_symlinked_docs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+"""Links to a document that is a symlink to a file outside the source directory."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+from io import StringIO
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+from sphinx.application import Sphinx
+
+
+def _build(srcdir: Path, outdir: Path) -> tuple[str, str]:
+    """Build the project with the html builder, return (warnings, index.html)."""
+    status, warning = StringIO(), StringIO()
+    app = Sphinx(
+        str(srcdir),
+        str(srcdir),
+        str(outdir),
+        str(outdir / ".doctrees"),
+        "html",
+        status=status,
+        warning=warning,
+        freshenv=True,
+    )
+    app.build()
+    return warning.getvalue(), (outdir / "index.html").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "link",
+    [
+        pytest.param("linked.md#target-section", id="relative-path"),
+        pytest.param("project:linked.md#target-section", id="project-scheme"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_link_to_symlinked_doc_outside_srcdir(tmp_path: Path, link: str):
+    """A link to a document that is a symlink to a file outside the source
+    directory resolves to the document, rather than to the symlink target.
+    """
+    docs = tmp_path / "project" / "docs"
+    docs.mkdir(parents=True)
+    (tmp_path / "project" / "README.md").write_text(
+        "# Readme\n\n## Target section\n\ntext\n", encoding="utf-8"
+    )
+    try:
+        os.symlink(os.path.join("..", "README.md"), docs / "linked.md")
+    except (OSError, NotImplementedError):  # pragma: no cover
+        pytest.skip("symlinks are not available")
+    (docs / "conf.py").write_text(
+        'extensions = ["myst_parser"]\nmyst_heading_anchors = 3\n', encoding="utf-8"
+    )
+    (docs / "index.md").write_text(
+        f"# Index\n\n[Section title]({link})\n\n```{{toctree}}\nlinked\n```\n",
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+
+    warnings, index_html = _build(docs, tmp_path / "_build")
+
+    assert "Unknown source document" not in warnings
+    assert "Could not find document" not in warnings
+    assert 'href="linked.html#target-section"' in index_html