diff --git a/tests/ci/validators.test.js b/tests/ci/validators.test.js
index 0e681084..0a06fc8f 100644
--- a/tests/ci/validators.test.js
+++ b/tests/ci/validators.test.js
@@ -2577,7 +2577,21 @@ function runTests() {
     fs.mkdirSync(validSkill, { recursive: true });
     // Broken symlink: target does not exist — statSync will throw ENOENT
     const brokenLink = path.join(skillsDir, 'broken-skill');
-    fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/target/path', brokenLink);
+    try {
+      fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/target/path', brokenLink);
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Skip only where symlink creation is blocked (e.g. Windows without
+      // Developer Mode / admin rights → EPERM/EACCES); rethrow anything else
+      // so real failures aren't masked.
+      if (err && (err.code === 'EPERM' || err.code === 'EACCES')) {
+        console.log('    (skipped — symlinks not supported)');
+        cleanupTestDir(testDir);
+        cleanupTestDir(agentsDir);
+        fs.rmSync(skillsDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        return;
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
 
     // Command that references the valid skill (should resolve)
     fs.writeFileSync(path.join(testDir, 'cmd.md'),
diff --git a/tests/lib/session-manager.test.js b/tests/lib/session-manager.test.js
index e39b0a87..a34447d7 100644
--- a/tests/lib/session-manager.test.js
+++ b/tests/lib/session-manager.test.js
@@ -1384,7 +1384,19 @@ src/main.ts
 
     // Create a broken symlink that matches the session filename pattern
     const brokenSymlink = '2026-02-10-deadbeef-session.tmp';
-    fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/path/that/does/not/exist', path.join(sessionsDir, brokenSymlink));
+    try {
+      fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/path/that/does/not/exist', path.join(sessionsDir, brokenSymlink));
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Skip only where symlink creation is blocked (e.g. Windows without
+      // Developer Mode / admin rights → EPERM/EACCES); rethrow anything else
+      // so real failures aren't masked.
+      if (err && (err.code === 'EPERM' || err.code === 'EACCES')) {
+        console.log('    (skipped — symlinks not supported)');
+        fs.rmSync(isoHome, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        return;
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
 
     const origHome = process.env.HOME;
     const origUserProfile = process.env.USERPROFILE;
@@ -1421,7 +1433,19 @@ src/main.ts
 
     // Create a broken symlink that matches a session ID pattern
     const brokenFile = '2026-02-11-deadbeef-session.tmp';
-    fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/target/that/does/not/exist', path.join(sessionsDir, brokenFile));
+    try {
+      fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/target/that/does/not/exist', path.join(sessionsDir, brokenFile));
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Skip only where symlink creation is blocked (e.g. Windows without
+      // Developer Mode / admin rights → EPERM/EACCES); rethrow anything else
+      // so real failures aren't masked.
+      if (err && (err.code === 'EPERM' || err.code === 'EACCES')) {
+        console.log('    (skipped — symlinks not supported)');
+        fs.rmSync(isoHome, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        return;
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
 
     const origHome = process.env.HOME;
     const origUserProfile = process.env.USERPROFILE;
diff --git a/tests/lib/utils.test.js b/tests/lib/utils.test.js
index a85758e4..3217567a 100644
--- a/tests/lib/utils.test.js
+++ b/tests/lib/utils.test.js
@@ -1415,7 +1415,19 @@ function runTests() {
     const realFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'real.txt');
     fs.writeFileSync(realFile, 'content');
     const brokenLink = path.join(tmpDir, 'broken.txt');
-    fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/path/does/not/exist', brokenLink);
+    try {
+      fs.symlinkSync('/nonexistent/path/does/not/exist', brokenLink);
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Skip only where symlink creation is blocked (e.g. Windows without
+      // Developer Mode / admin rights → EPERM/EACCES); rethrow anything else
+      // so real failures aren't masked.
+      if (err && (err.code === 'EPERM' || err.code === 'EACCES')) {
+        console.log('    (skipped — symlinks not supported)');
+        fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        return;
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
 
     try {
       const results = utils.findFiles(tmpDir, '*.txt');