diff --git a/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/llvm-cov.rst b/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/llvm-cov.rst
--- a/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/llvm-cov.rst
+++ b/llvm/docs/CommandGuide/llvm-cov.rst
@@ -264,6 +264,13 @@
 
  Skip source code files with file paths that match the given regular expression.
 
+.. option:: -ignore-symlinks
+
+ Do not follow symbolic links to detect the same file. Following symbolic links
+ will generate an accurate report, but this could slow down processing time.
+ Thus, compare path strings only after normalization instead of following
+ symbolic links.
+
 .. option:: -format=<FORMAT>
 
  Use the specified output format. The supported formats are: "text", "html".
diff --git a/llvm/tools/llvm-cov/CodeCoverage.cpp b/llvm/tools/llvm-cov/CodeCoverage.cpp
--- a/llvm/tools/llvm-cov/CodeCoverage.cpp
+++ b/llvm/tools/llvm-cov/CodeCoverage.cpp
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@
   CoverageViewOptions ViewOpts;
   CoverageFiltersMatchAll Filters;
   CoverageFilters IgnoreFilenameFilters;
+  bool ComparePathStringOnly = false;
 
   /// True if InputSourceFiles are provided.
   bool HadSourceFiles = false;
@@ -248,9 +249,22 @@
     if (Loc != RemappedFilenames.end())
       SourceFile = Loc->second;
   }
-  for (const auto &Files : LoadedSourceFiles)
-    if (sys::fs::equivalent(SourceFile, Files.first))
-      return *Files.second;
+
+  SmallString<256> NormalizedPath;
+  sys::path::native(SourceFile, NormalizedPath);
+  sys::path::remove_dots(NormalizedPath, true);
+  SourceFile = NormalizedPath;
+
+  if (ComparePathStringOnly) {
+    for (const auto &Files : LoadedSourceFiles)
+      if (SourceFile == Files.first)
+        return *Files.second;
+  } else {
+    for (const auto &Files : LoadedSourceFiles)
+      if (sys::fs::equivalent(SourceFile, Files.first))
+        return *Files.second;
+  }
+
   auto Buffer = MemoryBuffer::getFile(SourceFile);
   if (auto EC = Buffer.getError()) {
     error(EC.message(), SourceFile);
@@ -654,6 +668,12 @@
                "regular expression"),
       cl::ZeroOrMore, cl::cat(FilteringCategory));
 
+  cl::opt<bool> IgnoreSymlinks(
+      "ignore-symlinks", cl::Optional,
+      cl::desc("Do not follow symlinks to check file equivalence. "
+               "Use only normalized path strings to find the same file."),
+      cl::init(false));
+
   cl::opt<double> RegionCoverageLtFilter(
       "region-coverage-lt", cl::Optional,
       cl::desc("Show code coverage only for functions with region coverage "
@@ -838,6 +858,7 @@
       ::exit(0);
     }
 
+    ComparePathStringOnly = IgnoreSymlinks;
     ViewOpts.ShowBranchSummary = BranchSummary;
     ViewOpts.ShowRegionSummary = RegionSummary;
     ViewOpts.ShowInstantiationSummary = InstantiationSummary;