diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index c27ca0c..a6e02df 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -136,6 +136,15 @@ replace_dir() {
 link_dotfile() {
 	source_path=$1
 	target_path=$2
+	resolved_source_path=$(cd "$(dirname "$source_path")" && pwd)/$(basename "$source_path")
+	target_parent=$(dirname "$target_path")
+	resolved_target_parent=$(cd "$target_parent" 2>/dev/null && pwd || printf '%s' "$target_parent")
+	resolved_target_path=$resolved_target_parent/$(basename "$target_path")
+
+	if [ "$resolved_source_path" = "$resolved_target_path" ]; then
+		skip "$target_path resolves to the source path; refusing to create a self-referential symlink."
+		return
+	fi
 
 	if [ -L "$target_path" ]; then
 		current_target=$(readlink "$target_path")