diff --git a/lib/commands/link.js b/lib/commands/link.js
index 0c0929115a557..cdc248569849c 100644
--- a/lib/commands/link.js
+++ b/lib/commands/link.js
@@ -109,13 +109,13 @@ class Link extends ArboristWorkspaceCmd {
     // using any of --save-dev or other types
     const save =
       Boolean(
-        this.npm.config.find('save') !== 'default' ||
+        (this.npm.config.find('save') !== 'default' &&
+        this.npm.config.get('save')) ||
         this.npm.config.get('save-optional') ||
         this.npm.config.get('save-peer') ||
         this.npm.config.get('save-dev') ||
         this.npm.config.get('save-prod')
       )
-
     // create a new arborist instance for the local prefix and
     // reify all the pending names as symlinks there
     const localArb = new Arborist({
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/link.js b/test/lib/commands/link.js
index 65792fd141acb..85bada28d67b1 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/link.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/link.js
@@ -369,6 +369,40 @@ t.test('link pkg already in global space when prefix is a symlink', async t => {
   t.matchSnapshot(await printLinks(), 'should create a local symlink to global pkg')
 })
 
+t.test('should not save link to package file', async t => {
+  const { link, prefix } = await mockLink(t, {
+    globalPrefixDir: {
+      node_modules: {
+        '@myscope': {
+          linked: t.fixture('symlink', '../../../other/scoped-linked'),
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    otherDirs: {
+      'scoped-linked': {
+        'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+          name: '@myscope/linked',
+          version: '1.0.0',
+        }),
+      },
+    },
+    prefixDir: {
+      'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+        name: 'my-project',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+      }),
+    },
+    config: { save: false },
+  })
+
+  await link.exec(['@myscope/linked'])
+  t.match(
+    require(resolve(prefix, 'package.json')).dependencies,
+    undefined,
+    'should not save to package.json upon linking'
+  )
+})
+
 t.test('should not prune dependencies when linking packages', async t => {
   const { link, prefix } = await mockLink(t, {
     globalPrefixDir: {