diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/namespaces/FileSystemProvider.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/namespaces/FileSystemProvider.cs
index f21786a29ac..bdfa2675c34 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/namespaces/FileSystemProvider.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/namespaces/FileSystemProvider.cs
@@ -2208,7 +2208,8 @@ protected override void NewItem(
                     {
                         if (symLinkExists)
                         {
-                            WriteError(new ErrorRecord(new IOException("NewItemIOError"), "NewItemIOError", ErrorCategory.ResourceExists, path));
+                            string message = StringUtil.Format(FileSystemProviderStrings.SymlinkItemExists, path);
+                            WriteError(new ErrorRecord(new IOException(message), "SymLinkExists", ErrorCategory.ResourceExists, path));
                             return;
                         }
                     }
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/FileSystemProviderStrings.resx b/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/FileSystemProviderStrings.resx
index 8432c926706..def94134b72 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/FileSystemProviderStrings.resx
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/FileSystemProviderStrings.resx
@@ -336,4 +336,7 @@
   <data name="DriveMaxSizeError" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Maximum size for drive has been exceeded: {0}.</value>
   </data>
-</root>
\ No newline at end of file
+  <data name="SymlinkItemExists" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Cannot create symbolic link because the path {0} already exists.</value>
+  </data>
+</root>
diff --git a/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Management/FileSystem.Tests.ps1 b/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Management/FileSystem.Tests.ps1
index 0a237783e96..c94aeda3fcd 100644
--- a/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Management/FileSystem.Tests.ps1
+++ b/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Management/FileSystem.Tests.ps1
@@ -344,6 +344,9 @@ Describe "Hard link and symbolic link tests" -Tags "CI", "RequireAdminOnWindows"
             $link.LinkType | Should BeExactly "SymbolicLink"
             $link.Target | Should Be $nonFile
         }
+        It "New-Item emits an error when path to symbolic link already exists." {
+            { New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path $realDir -Value $symLinkToDir -ErrorAction Stop } | ShouldBeErrorId "SymLinkExists,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewItemCommand"
+        }
         It "New-Item can create a symbolic link to a directory" -Skip:($IsWindows) {
             New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path $symLinkToDir -Value $realDir
             Test-Path $symLinkToDir | Should Be $true