diff --git a/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionMethods.cs b/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionMethods.cs
index bc898cc8..15efd220 100644
--- a/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionMethods.cs
+++ b/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionMethods.cs
@@ -68,18 +68,15 @@ namespace SharpCompress.Common
                                             ExtractionOptions options,
                                             Action<string, FileMode> openAndWrite)
         {
-#if NETSTANDARD2_0
             if (entry.LinkTarget != null)
             {
-                var link = new Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo(destinationFileName);
-                if (System.IO.File.Exists(destinationFileName))
+                if (null == options.WriteSymbolicLink)
                 {
-                    link.Delete(); // equivalent to ln -s -f
+                    throw new ExtractionException("Entry is a symbolic link but ExtractionOptions.WriteSymbolicLink delegate is null");
                 }
-                link.CreateSymbolicLinkTo(entry.LinkTarget);
+                options.WriteSymbolicLink(destinationFileName, entry.LinkTarget);
             }
             else
-#endif
             {
                 FileMode fm = FileMode.Create;
                 options = options ?? new ExtractionOptions()
diff --git a/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionOptions.cs b/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionOptions.cs
index 9dba482e..7f6e1efc 100644
--- a/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionOptions.cs
+++ b/src/SharpCompress/Common/ExtractionOptions.cs
@@ -21,5 +21,14 @@
         /// preserve windows file attributes
         /// </summary>
         public bool PreserveAttributes { get; set; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Delegate for writing symbolic links to disk.
+        /// sourcePath is where the symlink is created.
+        /// targetPath is what the symlink refers to.
+        /// </summary>
+        public delegate void SymbolicLinkWriterDelegate(string sourcePath, string targetPath);
+
+        public SymbolicLinkWriterDelegate WriteSymbolicLink;
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/SharpCompress/SharpCompress.csproj b/src/SharpCompress/SharpCompress.csproj
index 66775ecc..1e009ded 100644
--- a/src/SharpCompress/SharpCompress.csproj
+++ b/src/SharpCompress/SharpCompress.csproj
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
     <DefineConstants>$(DefineConstants);NETCORE</DefineConstants>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(TargetFramework)' == 'netstandard2.0' ">
-    <PackageReference Include="Mono.Posix.NETStandard" Version="1.0.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Encoding.CodePages" Version="4.5.0" />
   </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/SharpCompress.Test/SharpCompress.Test.csproj b/tests/SharpCompress.Test/SharpCompress.Test.csproj
index 6223a62d..4d08ac18 100644
--- a/tests/SharpCompress.Test/SharpCompress.Test.csproj
+++ b/tests/SharpCompress.Test/SharpCompress.Test.csproj
@@ -16,5 +16,6 @@
     <PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio" Version="2.4.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="xunit" Version="2.4.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="Xunit.SkippableFact" Version="1.3.6" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Mono.Posix.NETStandard" Version="1.0.0" />
   </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/SharpCompress.Test/Tar/TarReaderTests.cs b/tests/SharpCompress.Test/Tar/TarReaderTests.cs
index ac58b3e4..a5b75e4a 100644
--- a/tests/SharpCompress.Test/Tar/TarReaderTests.cs
+++ b/tests/SharpCompress.Test/Tar/TarReaderTests.cs
@@ -190,6 +190,8 @@ namespace SharpCompress.Test.Tar
         [Fact]
         public void Tar_GZip_With_Symlink_Entries()
         {
+            var isWindows = System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(
+                System.Runtime.InteropServices.OSPlatform.Windows);
             using (Stream stream = File.OpenRead(Path.Combine(TEST_ARCHIVES_PATH, "TarWithSymlink.tar.gz")))
             using (var reader = TarReader.Open(stream))
             {
@@ -204,21 +206,42 @@ namespace SharpCompress.Test.Tar
                                                  new ExtractionOptions()
                                                  {
                                                      ExtractFullPath = true,
-                                                     Overwrite = true
+                                                     Overwrite = true,
+                                                     WriteSymbolicLink = (sourcePath, targetPath) =>
+                                                     {
+                                                         if (!isWindows)
+                                                         {
+                                                             var link = new Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo(sourcePath);
+                                                             if (System.IO.File.Exists(sourcePath))
+                                                             {
+                                                                 link.Delete(); // equivalent to ln -s -f
+                                                             }
+                                                             link.CreateSymbolicLinkTo(targetPath);
+                                                         }
+                                                     }
                                                  });
-                    if (reader.Entry.LinkTarget != null)
+                    if (!isWindows)
                     {
-#if NETSTANDARD2_0
-                        var link = new Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo(reader.Entry.Key);
-                        if (link.HasContents)
+                        if (reader.Entry.LinkTarget != null)
                         {
-                            Assert.Equal(link.GetContents(), reader.Entry.LinkTarget);
+                            var path = System.IO.Path.Combine(SCRATCH_FILES_PATH, reader.Entry.Key);
+                            var link = new Mono.Unix.UnixSymbolicLinkInfo(path);
+                            if (link.HasContents)
+                            {
+                                // need to convert the link to an absolute path for comparison
+                                var target = reader.Entry.LinkTarget;
+                                var realTarget = System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(
+                                    System.IO.Path.Combine($"{System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(path)}",
+                                    target)
+                                );
+
+                                Assert.Equal(realTarget, link.GetContents().ToString());
+                            }
+                            else
+                            {
+                                Assert.True(false, "Symlink has no target");
+                            }
                         }
-                        else
-                        {
-                            Assert.True(false);
-                        }
-#endif
                     }
                 }
             }