src/internal/syscall/windows/at_windows.go |  1 +
 src/os/os_test.go                          | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/syscall/syscall_windows.go             | 29 +++++++++++++++--------------

diff --git a/src/internal/syscall/windows/at_windows.go b/src/internal/syscall/windows/at_windows.go
index 18429773c060e78e1ee3bdc3dff0c4202cea6c44..05170b218eac015adb26d590547cc4378ae98adf 100644
--- a/src/internal/syscall/windows/at_windows.go
+++ b/src/internal/syscall/windows/at_windows.go
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ 	var disposition uint32
 	switch {
 	case flag&(syscall.O_CREAT|syscall.O_EXCL) == (syscall.O_CREAT | syscall.O_EXCL):
 		disposition = FILE_CREATE
+		options |= FILE_OPEN_REPARSE_POINT // don't follow symlinks
 	case flag&syscall.O_CREAT == syscall.O_CREAT:
 		disposition = FILE_OPEN_IF
 	default:
diff --git a/src/os/os_test.go b/src/os/os_test.go
index 4ddbe6022bfe14884e772040a8b953ff5ce39afc..3b348f93d25772c84a73154691d20f73be031dde 100644
--- a/src/os/os_test.go
+++ b/src/os/os_test.go
@@ -2223,6 +2223,31 @@ 	}
 
 }
 
+func TestOpenFileCreateExclDanglingSymlink(t *testing.T) {
+	testMaybeRooted(t, func(t *testing.T, r *Root) {
+		const link = "link"
+		if err := Symlink("does_not_exist", link); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		var f *File
+		var err error
+		if r == nil {
+			f, err = OpenFile(link, O_WRONLY|O_CREATE|O_EXCL, 0o444)
+		} else {
+			f, err = r.OpenFile(link, O_WRONLY|O_CREATE|O_EXCL, 0o444)
+		}
+		if err == nil {
+			f.Close()
+		}
+		if !errors.Is(err, ErrExist) {
+			t.Errorf("OpenFile of a dangling symlink with O_CREATE|O_EXCL = %v, want ErrExist", err)
+		}
+		if _, err := Stat(link); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("OpenFile of a dangling symlink with O_CREATE|O_EXCL created a file")
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 // TestFileRDWRFlags tests the O_RDONLY, O_WRONLY, and O_RDWR flags.
 func TestFileRDWRFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range []struct {
diff --git a/src/syscall/syscall_windows.go b/src/syscall/syscall_windows.go
index 344f6c325cd8fb54720ce3046c90a647067e76e2..1c5a67778fa15c78ebd63d4a23c5e7d4e4df1512 100644
--- a/src/syscall/syscall_windows.go
+++ b/src/syscall/syscall_windows.go
@@ -376,6 +376,20 @@ 	var sa *SecurityAttributes
 	if flag&O_CLOEXEC == 0 {
 		sa = makeInheritSa()
 	}
+	var attrs uint32 = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL
+	if perm&S_IWRITE == 0 {
+		attrs = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY
+	}
+	if flag&O_WRONLY == 0 && flag&O_RDWR == 0 {
+		// We might be opening or creating a directory.
+		// CreateFile requires FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS
+		// to work with directories.
+		attrs |= FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS
+	}
+	if flag&O_SYNC != 0 {
+		const _FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH = 0x80000000
+		attrs |= _FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH
+	}
 	// We don't use CREATE_ALWAYS, because when opening a file with
 	// FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY these will replace an existing file
 	// with a new, read-only one. See https://go.dev/issue/38225.
@@ -385,24 +399,11 @@ 	var createmode uint32
 	switch {
 	case flag&(O_CREAT|O_EXCL) == (O_CREAT | O_EXCL):
 		createmode = CREATE_NEW
+		attrs |= FILE_FLAG_OPEN_REPARSE_POINT // don't follow symlinks
 	case flag&O_CREAT == O_CREAT:
 		createmode = OPEN_ALWAYS
 	default:
 		createmode = OPEN_EXISTING
-	}
-	var attrs uint32 = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL
-	if perm&S_IWRITE == 0 {
-		attrs = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY
-	}
-	if flag&O_WRONLY == 0 && flag&O_RDWR == 0 {
-		// We might be opening or creating a directory.
-		// CreateFile requires FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS
-		// to work with directories.
-		attrs |= FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS
-	}
-	if flag&O_SYNC != 0 {
-		const _FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH = 0x80000000
-		attrs |= _FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH
 	}
 	h, err := createFile(namep, access, sharemode, sa, createmode, attrs, 0)
 	if h == InvalidHandle {