diff --git a/core/commands/ls.go b/core/commands/ls.go
index 016116cf07c..0289d69fd34 100644
--- a/core/commands/ls.go
+++ b/core/commands/ls.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type LsLink struct {
 	Name, Hash string
 	Size       uint64
 	Type       unixfs_pb.Data_DataType
+	Target     string
 }
 
 // LsObject is an element of LsOutput
@@ -159,8 +160,9 @@ The JSON output contains type information.
 					Name: link.Name,
 					Hash: enc.Encode(link.Cid),
 
-					Size: link.Size,
-					Type: ftype,
+					Size:   link.Size,
+					Type:   ftype,
+					Target: link.Target,
 				}
 				if err := processLink(paths[i], lsLink); err != nil {
 					return err
diff --git a/core/coreapi/unixfs.go b/core/coreapi/unixfs.go
index 627a6d06eab..e26c755b935 100644
--- a/core/coreapi/unixfs.go
+++ b/core/coreapi/unixfs.go
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ func (api *UnixfsAPI) processLink(ctx context.Context, linkres ft.LinkResult, se
 				lnk.Type = coreiface.TDirectory
 			case ft.TSymlink:
 				lnk.Type = coreiface.TSymlink
+				lnk.Target = string(d.Data())
 			}
 			lnk.Size = d.FileSize()
 		}