diff --git a/src/libsync/discovery.cpp b/src/libsync/discovery.cpp
index a24cb4d681..9c3f2d9d00 100644
--- a/src/libsync/discovery.cpp
+++ b/src/libsync/discovery.cpp
@@ -510,13 +510,13 @@ void ProcessDirectoryJob::processFileAnalyzeRemoteInfo(
             && item->_type == ItemTypeFile
             && opts._vfs->mode() != Vfs::Off
             && _pinState != PinState::AlwaysLocal
+#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
+            // on Windows, ".lnk" files are causing troubles with QFileInfo - always treat them as normal files
+            && !FileSystem::isLnkFile(path._server)
+#endif
             ) {
             item->_type = ItemTypeVirtualFile;
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-            if(FileSystem::isLnkFile(path._server)) {
-                item->_type = ItemTypeVirtualFileDownload;
-            }
-#endif
+
             if (isVfsWithSuffix())
                 addVirtualFileSuffix(tmp_path._original);
         }
diff --git a/src/libsync/vfs/cfapi/vfs_cfapi.cpp b/src/libsync/vfs/cfapi/vfs_cfapi.cpp
index b5b2cb9e2d..d8b96cb415 100644
--- a/src/libsync/vfs/cfapi/vfs_cfapi.cpp
+++ b/src/libsync/vfs/cfapi/vfs_cfapi.cpp
@@ -197,9 +197,9 @@ bool VfsCfApi::statTypeVirtualFile(csync_file_stat_t *stat, void *statData)
         return true;
     } else if (!isSparseFile && isUnpinned){
         if (!FileSystem::isLnkFile(stat->path)) {
-                stat->type = ItemTypeVirtualFileDehydration;
+            stat->type = ItemTypeVirtualFileDehydration;
+            return true;
         }
-        return true;
     } else if (isSparseFile) {
         stat->type = ItemTypeVirtualFile;
         return true;