diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/controller.test.mjs b/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/controller.test.mjs
index bceb4a58568..92ed44792c9 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/controller.test.mjs
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/controller.test.mjs
@@ -237,3 +237,16 @@ for (const replaced of ['runnerCli', 'runnerd']) test(`launches verified bytes a
   assert.equal((await summarizeControlledCampaign(f.manifest)).incompleteAttempts, 0);
   await assert.rejects(readdir(join(attemptDirectory(f.manifest, 'attempt-0'), 'executables')), { code: 'ENOENT' });
 });
+
+test('staged CLI relative imports survive a symlinked evidence directory', async t => {
+  const f = await fixture(t, { requests: 1 });
+  await writeFile(join(f.root, 'helper.mjs'), "export const marker = 'trusted sibling';\n");
+  await writeFile(f.manifest.runnerCli.path, "import { marker } from './helper.mjs';\n" + childScript({ requests: 1 }) + "\nassert.equal(marker, 'trusted sibling');\n");
+  f.manifest.runnerCli.sha256 = sha256(await readFile(f.manifest.runnerCli.path));
+  const alias = join(f.root, 'evidence-alias');
+  await mkdir(join(f.root, 'evidence-real')); await symlink(join(f.root, 'evidence-real'), alias);
+  f.manifest.outputDirectory = join(alias, 'controller'); await f.save();
+  const result = await f.run();
+  assert.equal(result.code, 0);
+  assert.equal((await summarizeControlledCampaign(f.manifest)).incompleteAttempts, 0);
+});
diff --git a/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/run.mjs b/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/run.mjs
index fc9fa6d217e..07740fe3a29 100644
--- a/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/run.mjs
+++ b/packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/controlled-evals/run.mjs
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ export async function runControlledEval({ manifestPath, requestPath, outputPath,
     const suffix = relative(resolve(request.session.workingDirectory), resolve(manifest.outputDirectory));
     if (!suffix || suffix !== '..' && !suffix.startsWith(`..${sep}`) && !isAbsolute(suffix)) throw new Error('Controller evidence must be outside the disposable workspace');
   }
+  const originalCliUrl = pathToFileURL(await realpath(manifest.runnerCli.path)).href;
   const verified = {};
   for (const name of ['runnerCli', 'runnerPackage', 'runnerd']) {
     const artifact = manifest[name], bytes = await readFile(artifact.path);
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ export async function runControlledEval({ manifestPath, requestPath, outputPath,
   const stagedCli = join(executables, 'entry.mjs'), stagedRunnerd = join(executables, 'runnerd'), loader = join(executables, 'imports.mjs');
   await writeFile(stagedCli, verified.runnerCli, { flag: 'wx', mode: 0o400 });
   await writeFile(stagedRunnerd, verified.runnerd, { flag: 'wx', mode: 0o500 });
-  const stagedUrl = JSON.stringify(pathToFileURL(stagedCli).href), originalUrl = JSON.stringify(pathToFileURL(manifest.runnerCli.path).href);
+  const stagedUrl = JSON.stringify(pathToFileURL(await realpath(stagedCli)).href), originalUrl = JSON.stringify(originalCliUrl);
   await writeFile(loader, `import { registerHooks } from 'node:module';
 registerHooks({ resolve(specifier, context, nextResolve) {
   return nextResolve(specifier, context.parentURL === ${stagedUrl} ? { ...context, parentURL: ${originalUrl} } : context);