diff --git a/common/FileSystem.cpp b/common/FileSystem.cpp
index e162a55599..46940388b4 100644
--- a/common/FileSystem.cpp
+++ b/common/FileSystem.cpp
@@ -1961,6 +1961,26 @@ bool FileSystem::SetPathCompression(const char* path, bool enable)
 	return result;
 }
 
+bool FileSystem::CreateSymLink(const char* link, const char* target)
+{
+	// convert to wide string
+	const std::wstring wlink = GetWin32Path(link);
+	if (wlink.empty())
+		return false;
+
+	const std::wstring wtarget = GetWin32Path(target);
+	if (wtarget.empty())
+		return false;
+
+	// check if it's a directory
+	DWORD flags = 0;
+	if (DirectoryExists(target))
+		flags |= SYMBOLIC_LINK_FLAG_DIRECTORY;
+
+	// create the symbolic link
+	return CreateSymbolicLinkW(wlink.c_str(), wtarget.c_str(), flags) != 0;
+}
+
 bool FileSystem::IsSymbolicLink(const char* path)
 {
 	// convert to wide string
@@ -2541,6 +2561,11 @@ bool FileSystem::SetPathCompression(const char* path, bool enable)
 	return false;
 }
 
+bool FileSystem::CreateSymLink(const char* link, const char* target)
+{
+	return symlink(target, link) == 0;
+}
+
 bool FileSystem::IsSymbolicLink(const char* path)
 {
 	struct stat sysStatData;
diff --git a/common/FileSystem.h b/common/FileSystem.h
index 6b7fe1806c..f731542b5a 100644
--- a/common/FileSystem.h
+++ b/common/FileSystem.h
@@ -178,6 +178,10 @@ namespace FileSystem
 	/// Does nothing and returns false on non-Windows platforms.
 	bool SetPathCompression(const char* path, bool enable);
 
+	// Creates a symbolic link. Note that on Windows this requires elevated
+	// privileges so this is mostly useful for testing purposes.
+	bool CreateSymLink(const char* link, const char* target);
+
 	/// Checks if a file or directory is a symbolic link.
 	bool IsSymbolicLink(const char* path);
 
diff --git a/tests/ctest/common/filesystem_tests.cpp b/tests/ctest/common/filesystem_tests.cpp
index eaafc74a53..d0fd9b8930 100644
--- a/tests/ctest/common/filesystem_tests.cpp
+++ b/tests/ctest/common/filesystem_tests.cpp
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
 
 #ifdef __linux__
 
-#include <unistd.h>
-
 static std::optional<std::string> create_test_directory()
 {
 	for (u16 i = 0; i < UINT16_MAX; i++)
@@ -42,7 +40,7 @@ TEST(FileSystem, RecursiveDeleteDirectoryDontFollowSymbolicLinks)
 	std::string dir_to_delete = Path::Combine(*test_dir, "dir_to_delete");
 	ASSERT_TRUE(FileSystem::CreateDirectoryPath(dir_to_delete.c_str(), false));
 	std::string symlink_path = Path::Combine(dir_to_delete, "link");
-	ASSERT_EQ(symlink(target_dir.c_str(), symlink_path.c_str()), 0);
+	ASSERT_TRUE(FileSystem::CreateSymLink(symlink_path.c_str(), target_dir.c_str()));
 
 	// Delete the directory containing the symlink.
 	ASSERT_TRUE(dir_to_delete.starts_with("/tmp/pcsx2_filesystem_test_"));