diff --git a/src/MSBuildLocator/DotNetSdkLocationHelper.cs b/src/MSBuildLocator/DotNetSdkLocationHelper.cs
index 3e6e86cc..116ab6cf 100644
--- a/src/MSBuildLocator/DotNetSdkLocationHelper.cs
+++ b/src/MSBuildLocator/DotNetSdkLocationHelper.cs
@@ -100,16 +100,25 @@ private static IEnumerable<string> GetDotNetBasePaths(string workingDirectory)
             foreach (string dir in Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH").Split(Path.PathSeparator))
             {
                 string filePath = Path.Combine(dir, exeName);
-                if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(dir, exeName)))
+                if (File.Exists(filePath))
                 {
-                    dotnetPath = filePath;
+                    if (!isWindows)
+                    {
+                        filePath = realpath(filePath) ?? filePath;
+                        if (!File.Exists(filePath))
+                        {
+                            continue;
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    dotnetPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath);
                     break;
                 }
             }
 
-            if (dotnetPath != null)
+            if (dotnetPath is null)
             {
-                dotnetPath = Path.GetDirectoryName(isWindows ? dotnetPath : realpath(dotnetPath) ?? dotnetPath);
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("Could not find the dotnet executable. Is it on the PATH?");
             }
 
             string bestSDK = null;