diff --git a/launcher/FileSystem.h b/launcher/FileSystem.h
index d79096e6..782a2f40 100644
--- a/launcher/FileSystem.h
+++ b/launcher/FileSystem.h
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ class ExternalLinkFileProcess : public QThread {
     Q_OBJECT
    public:
     ExternalLinkFileProcess(QString server, bool useHardLinks, QObject* parent = nullptr)
-        : QThread(parent), m_server(server), m_useHardLinks(useHardLinks)
+        : QThread(parent), m_useHardLinks(useHardLinks), m_server(server)
     {}
 
     void run() override
diff --git a/launcher/MMCZip.cpp b/launcher/MMCZip.cpp
index 1eda43fe..b4b663c1 100644
--- a/launcher/MMCZip.cpp
+++ b/launcher/MMCZip.cpp
@@ -94,20 +94,23 @@ bool MMCZip::mergeZipFiles(QuaZip *into, QFileInfo from, QSet<QString> &containe
     return true;
 }
 
-bool MMCZip::compressDirFiles(QuaZip *zip, QString dir, QFileInfoList files)
+bool MMCZip::compressDirFiles(QuaZip *zip, QString dir, QFileInfoList files, bool followSymlinks)
 {
     QDir directory(dir);
     if (!directory.exists()) return false;
 
     for (auto e : files) {
         auto filePath = directory.relativeFilePath(e.absoluteFilePath());
-        if( !JlCompress::compressFile(zip, e.absoluteFilePath(), filePath)) return false;
+        auto srcPath = e.absoluteFilePath();
+        if (followSymlinks)
+            srcPath = e.canonicalFilePath();
+        if( !JlCompress::compressFile(zip, srcPath, filePath)) return false;
     }
 
     return true;
 }
 
-bool MMCZip::compressDirFiles(QString fileCompressed, QString dir, QFileInfoList files)
+bool MMCZip::compressDirFiles(QString fileCompressed, QString dir, QFileInfoList files, bool followSymlinks)
 {
     QuaZip zip(fileCompressed);
     QDir().mkpath(QFileInfo(fileCompressed).absolutePath());
diff --git a/launcher/MMCZip.h b/launcher/MMCZip.h
index 81f9cb90..2a78f830 100644
--- a/launcher/MMCZip.h
+++ b/launcher/MMCZip.h
@@ -59,18 +59,20 @@ namespace MMCZip
      * \param zip target archive
      * \param dir directory that will be compressed (to compress with relative paths)
      * \param files list of files to compress
+     * \param followSymlinks should follow symlinks when compressing file data
      * \return true for success or false for failure
      */
-    bool compressDirFiles(QuaZip *zip, QString dir, QFileInfoList files);
+    bool compressDirFiles(QuaZip *zip, QString dir, QFileInfoList files, bool followSymlinks = false);
 
     /**
      * Compress directory, by providing a list of files to compress
      * \param fileCompressed target archive file
      * \param dir directory that will be compressed (to compress with relative paths)
      * \param files list of files to compress
+     * \param followSymlinks should follow symlinks when compressing file data
      * \return true for success or false for failure
      */
-    bool compressDirFiles(QString fileCompressed, QString dir, QFileInfoList files);
+    bool compressDirFiles(QString fileCompressed, QString dir, QFileInfoList files, bool followSymlinks = false);
 
     /**
      * take a source jar, add mods to it, resulting in target jar
diff --git a/launcher/ui/dialogs/ExportInstanceDialog.cpp b/launcher/ui/dialogs/ExportInstanceDialog.cpp
index f13e36e8..07ec3c70 100644
--- a/launcher/ui/dialogs/ExportInstanceDialog.cpp
+++ b/launcher/ui/dialogs/ExportInstanceDialog.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@
 #include <QDebug>
 #include <QSaveFile>
 #include <QStack>
+#include <QFileInfo>
+
 #include "StringUtils.h"
 #include "SeparatorPrefixTree.h"
 #include "Application.h"
@@ -429,7 +431,8 @@ bool ExportInstanceDialog::doExport()
         QMessageBox::warning(this, tr("Error"), tr("Unable to export instance"));
         return false;
     }
-    if (!MMCZip::compressDirFiles(output, m_instance->instanceRoot(), files))
+
+    if (!MMCZip::compressDirFiles(output, m_instance->instanceRoot(), files, true))
     {
         QMessageBox::warning(this, tr("Error"), tr("Unable to export instance"));
         return false;