diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index 71068cb093c8222d8d975ef4b2606deb583284d5..fed906bbcb2691d0d02461a2f938584632e4e5fe 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ For a detailed view of what's changed, refer to the {url-repo}/commits[commit hi
 
 === Fixed
 
+* prepare clean worktree when no previous worktree exists or when switching from another reference (#7)
+* don't follow symlinks when removing untracked files from existing worktree (#7)
 * always redirect stderr from command to stderr of console
 
 == 1.0.0-alpha.2 (2022-09-02)
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js b/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js
index a0374cc818d30a123b6d6ef8f8a8c11c2c5b5e74..c6bddafef249fa24ce2d892e5eb58a85706b8c81 100644
--- a/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ module.exports.register = function () {
   this.once('contentAggregated', async ({ playbook, contentAggregate }) => {
     const quiet = playbook.runtime?.quiet
     const cacheDir = ospath.join(getBaseCacheDir(playbook), 'collector')
-    //await fsp.rm(cacheDir, { recursive: true, force: true }) // Q: should we try to reuse existing cache?
+    //await fsp.rm(cacheDir, { force: true, recursive: true, force: true }) // Q: should we try to reuse existing cache?
     await fsp.mkdir(cacheDir, { recursive: true })
     const gitCache = {}
     for (const componentVersionBucket of contentAggregate) {
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ module.exports.register = function () {
           }
         })
         if (worktree) {
-          for (const scanDir of scanDirs) await fsp.rm(scanDir, { force: true, recursive: true })
+          for (const scanDir of scanDirs) await fsp.rm(scanDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
         } else {
           const cache = gitCache[gitdir] || (gitCache[gitdir] = {})
           const ref = `refs/${reftype === 'branch' ? 'head' : reftype}s/${refname}`
@@ -116,14 +116,15 @@ async function prepareWorktree (repo) {
   const worktreeGitdir = ospath.join(dir, '.git')
   const worktreeIndexPath = ospath.join(worktreeGitdir, 'index')
   try {
-    let force
-    if (await isDirectory(worktreeGitdir)) {
-      force = false
-      await fsp.cp(worktreeIndexPath, currentIndexPath)
+    let force = true
+    try {
+      await fsp.cp(worktreeIndexPath, currentIndexPath, { force })
       await removeUntrackedFiles(repo)
-    } else {
-      force = true
-      await fsp.access(dir).then(() => fsp.rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true }), invariably.void)
+    } catch {
+      force = false
+      if (currentIndex) await fsp.unlink(currentIndexPath)
+      await fsp.rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+      await fsp.mkdir(worktreeGitdir, { recursive: true })
     }
     let head
     if (ref.startsWith('refs/heads')) {
@@ -136,12 +137,11 @@ async function prepareWorktree (repo) {
       head = await git.resolveRef(repo)
     }
     await git.checkout({ ...repo, force, noUpdateHead: true, track: false })
-    await fsp.mkdir(worktreeGitdir, { recursive: true })
     await fsp.writeFile(ospath.join(worktreeGitdir, 'commondir'), `${gitdir}\n`, 'utf8')
     await fsp.writeFile(ospath.join(worktreeGitdir, 'HEAD'), `${head}\n`, 'utf8')
     await fsp.cp(currentIndexPath, worktreeIndexPath)
   } finally {
-    if (currentIndex) await fsp.writeFile(currentIndexPath, currentIndex)
+    currentIndex ? await fsp.writeFile(currentIndexPath, currentIndex) : fsp.rm(currentIndexPath, { force: true })
   }
 }
 
@@ -150,10 +150,6 @@ function generateWorktreeFolderName ({ url, gitdir, worktree }) {
   return `${url.substr(url.lastIndexOf('/') + 1)}-${createHash('sha1').update(url).digest('hex')}`
 }
 
-function isDirectory (path_) {
-  return fsp.stat(path_).then((stat) => stat.isDirectory(), invariably.false)
-}
-
 function getBaseCacheDir ({ dir: dot, runtime: { cacheDir: preferredDir } }) {
   return preferredDir == null
     ? getUserCacheDir(`antora${process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test' ? '-test' : ''}`) || ospath.join(dot, '.cache/antora')
@@ -199,10 +195,13 @@ function srcFs (cwd, globs = '**/*', base) {
 async function removeUntrackedFiles (repo) {
   const trees = [git.STAGE({}), git.WORKDIR()]
   const map = async (path_, [sEntry, wEntry]) => {
+    if (path_ === '.') return
     if (path_ === '.git') return null
-    if (path_ !== '.' && sEntry == null) {
+    if (sEntry == null) {
       await fsp.rm(ospath.join(repo.dir, path_), { recursive: true })
       return null
+    } else if ((await sEntry.mode()) === 0o120000) {
+      return null
     }
   }
   await git.walk(Object.assign({ trees, map }, repo))
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/collector-extension-test.js b/packages/collector-extension/test/collector-extension-test.js
index 106c54e23d82e05e0726834c662846de24332bcb..295da436bfb3a5a1281855582c46fc1ca3b8ee5a 100644
--- a/packages/collector-extension/test/collector-extension-test.js
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/collector-extension-test.js
@@ -84,7 +84,20 @@ describe('collector extension', () => {
 
     const createRepository = async ({ repoName, fixture = repoName, branches, tags, startPath, collectorConfig }) => {
       const repo = { dir: ospath.join(REPOS_DIR, repoName), fs }
-      await fsp.cp(ospath.join(FIXTURES_DIR, fixture), repo.dir, { recursive: true })
+      const links = []
+      const captureLinks = function (src, dest) {
+        if (!src.endsWith('-link')) return true
+        return fsp.readFile(src, 'utf8').then((link) => {
+          const [from, to] = link.trim().split(' -> ')
+          this.push([ospath.join(ospath.dirname(dest), from), to])
+          return false
+        })
+      }
+      await fsp.cp(ospath.join(FIXTURES_DIR, fixture), repo.dir, { recursive: true, filter: captureLinks.bind(links) })
+      for (const [from, to] of links) {
+        const type = to.endsWith('/') ? 'dir' : 'file'
+        await fsp.symlink(type === 'dir' ? to.slice(0, -1) : to, from, type)
+      }
       if (collectorConfig) {
         const antoraYmlPath = ospath.join(repo.dir, startPath || '', 'antora.yml')
         await updateYamlFile(antoraYmlPath, { ext: { collector: collectorConfig } })
@@ -901,7 +914,7 @@ describe('collector extension', () => {
       })
     })
 
-    it('should remove temporary worktree left behind by previous run', async () => {
+    it('should remove invalid temporary worktree left behind by previous run', async () => {
       const collectorConfig = {
         run: { command: 'node .gen-component-desc.js' },
         scan: { dir: 'build' },
@@ -928,6 +941,24 @@ describe('collector extension', () => {
       })
     })
 
+    it('should not leave behind index file in managed repository', async () => {
+      const collectorConfig = {
+        run: { command: 'node .check-index-file.js' },
+        scan: { dir: 'build' },
+      }
+      await runScenario({
+        repoName: 'test-at-root',
+        collectorConfig,
+        branches: ['v1.0.x'],
+        after: (contentAggregate) => {
+          expect(contentAggregate).to.have.lengthOf(1)
+          const bucket = contentAggregate[0]
+          expect(bucket.files).to.have.lengthOf(1)
+          expect(ospath.basename(bucket.files[0].path)).to.equal('does-not-exist.adoc')
+        },
+      })
+    })
+
     it('should remove untracked changes when switching worktrees for same repository', async () => {
       const collectorConfig = {
         run: { command: 'node .gen-dirty-worktree.js' },
@@ -956,6 +987,50 @@ describe('collector extension', () => {
       })
     })
 
+    it('should not follow symlinks when removing untracked files in worktree', async () => {
+      const collectorConfig = {
+        run: { command: 'node .check-dirty-worktree.js' },
+        scan: { dir: 'build' },
+      }
+      await runScenario({
+        repoName: 'test-with-symlink',
+        collectorConfig,
+        branches: ['v1.0.x', 'v2.0.x'],
+        after: (contentAggregate) => {
+          expect(contentAggregate).to.have.lengthOf(2)
+          const [bucket1, bucket2] = contentAggregate
+          expect(bucket1.files).to.have.lengthOf(3)
+          expect(bucket1.files.filter((it) => it.path.endsWith('/Hello.java'))).to.have.lengthOf(2)
+          expect(bucket1.files.filter((it) => it.path.endsWith('/dirty-worktree.adoc'))).to.be.empty()
+          expect(bucket2.files).to.have.lengthOf(3)
+          expect(bucket2.files.filter((it) => it.path.endsWith('/Hello.java'))).to.have.lengthOf(2)
+          expect(bucket2.files.filter((it) => it.path.endsWith('/dirty-worktree.adoc'))).to.be.empty()
+        },
+      })
+    })
+
+    it('should force checkout if worktree has changes when switching worktrees for same repository', async () => {
+      const collectorConfig = {
+        run: { command: 'node .gen-dirty-worktree.js delete' },
+        scan: { dir: 'build' },
+      }
+      await runScenario({
+        repoName: 'test-at-root',
+        collectorConfig,
+        branches: ['v1.0.x', 'v2.0.x'],
+        after: (contentAggregate) => {
+          expect(contentAggregate).to.have.lengthOf(2)
+          const [bucket1, bucket2] = contentAggregate
+          expect(bucket1).to.have.property('version', '1.0')
+          expect(bucket1.files).to.have.lengthOf(1)
+          expect(bucket1.files[0].path).to.equal('modules/ROOT/pages/v1.0.x-release.adoc')
+          expect(bucket2).to.have.property('version', '2.0')
+          expect(bucket2.files).to.have.lengthOf(1)
+          expect(bucket2.files[0].path).to.equal('modules/ROOT/pages/v2.0.x-release.adoc')
+        },
+      })
+    })
+
     it('should send output from command to stdout by default', async () => {
       const collectorConfig = { run: { command: 'node .gen-output.js' } }
       const stdout = await captureStdout(() =>
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.check-index-file.js b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.check-index-file.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..37bc474a434495e368b8c4973ee498a41873ecdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.check-index-file.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+'use strict'
+
+const { promises: fsp } = require('fs')
+const ospath = require('path')
+
+;(async () => {
+  const gitdir = await fsp.readFile('.git/commondir', 'utf8').then((contents) => contents.trim())
+  const exists = await fsp.access(ospath.join(gitdir, 'index')).then(
+    () => true,
+    () => false
+  )
+  await fsp.mkdir('build/modules/ROOT/pages', { recursive: true })
+  if (exists) {
+    await fsp.writeFile('build/modules/ROOT/pages/exists.adoc', '= Index Exists', 'utf8')
+  } else {
+    await fsp.writeFile('build/modules/ROOT/pages/does-not-exist.adoc', '= Index Does Not Exist', 'utf8')
+  }
+})()
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.gen-dirty-worktree.js b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.gen-dirty-worktree.js
index 80dcac4454c9a6e8f3062f02a870139835fb8f64..7d8ec90cf5260f2310831d3e35ad277563d129c3 100644
--- a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.gen-dirty-worktree.js
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-at-root/.gen-dirty-worktree.js
@@ -4,10 +4,15 @@ const { promises: fsp } = require('fs')
 const { spawnSync } = require('child_process')
 
 ;(async () => {
+  const dirty = spawnSync('git', ['status', '--short']).stdout.toString().trimRight()
   const branch = spawnSync('git', ['rev-parse', '--abbrev-ref', 'HEAD']).stdout.toString().trimRight()
   await fsp.writeFile('antora.yml', `name: test\nversion: '${branch.substr(1).replace('.x', '')}'\n`, 'utf8')
   await fsp.writeFile(`untracked-${branch}.txt`, 'untracked', 'utf8')
+  if (process.argv[2] === 'delete') await fsp.rm(process.argv[1])
   await fsp.mkdir('build/modules/ROOT/pages', { recursive: true })
   await fsp.writeFile('build/antora.yml', `name: test\nversion: '${branch.substr(1).replace('.x', '')}'\n`, 'utf8')
   await fsp.writeFile(`build/modules/ROOT/pages/${branch}-release.adoc`, '= Branch-Specific Page', 'utf8')
+  if (dirty) {
+    fsp.writeFile('build/modules/ROOT/pages/dirty-worktree.adoc', `= Dirty Worktree\n\n....\n${dirty}\n....`, 'utf8')
+  }
 })()
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/.check-dirty-worktree.js b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/.check-dirty-worktree.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f90a8b007a09cb6430b040dcbf7d204c6c160964
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/.check-dirty-worktree.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+'use strict'
+
+const { promises: fsp } = require('fs')
+const { spawnSync } = require('child_process')
+
+;(async () => {
+  const untracked = spawnSync('git', ['status', '--short'])
+    .stdout.toString()
+    .split('\n')
+    .filter((it) => it.trimStart().startsWith('?'))
+    .join('\n')
+    .trimEnd()
+  const modified = spawnSync('git', ['diff', '--name-status']).stdout.toString().trimEnd()
+  const dirty = untracked + modified
+  await fsp.mkdir('build/modules/ROOT/pages', { recursive: true })
+  if (dirty) {
+    fsp.writeFile('build/modules/ROOT/pages/dirty-worktree.adoc', `= Dirty Worktree\n\n....\n${dirty}\n....`, 'utf8')
+  }
+})()
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/.gitattributes b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6313b56c57848efce05faa7aa7e901ccfc2886ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* text=auto eol=lf
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/antora.yml b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/antora.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e35bef6465e7726643768ed70bef8a27ce60b044
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/antora.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+name: test
+version: true
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/modules/ROOT/examples/java-link b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/modules/ROOT/examples/java-link
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..98528bf9c5df321e447beee70f6ec2bc085ed48f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/modules/ROOT/examples/java-link
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+java -> ../../../src/main/java/
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/modules/ROOT/pages/index.adoc b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/modules/ROOT/pages/index.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cada0695c920233fad52ea9d7b2453d54f8f8848
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/modules/ROOT/pages/index.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+= Hello
+
+[,java]
+----
+include::example$java/Hello.java[]
+----
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/src/main/java/Hello.java b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/src/main/java/Hello.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d9e2b35d6faffd2e83a7681c26cf835eddbb5796
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/test-with-symlink/src/main/java/Hello.java
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+public class Hello {
+  public static void main(String[] args) {
+    System.out.println("hello");
+  }
+}