diff --git a/Sources/PackageLoading/ManifestLoader.swift b/Sources/PackageLoading/ManifestLoader.swift
index 479e58107d1..295ac695272 100644
--- a/Sources/PackageLoading/ManifestLoader.swift
+++ b/Sources/PackageLoading/ManifestLoader.swift
@@ -512,10 +512,17 @@ public final class ManifestLoader: ManifestLoaderProtocol {
                 let manifestTempFilePath = tempDir.appending(component: "manifest.swift")
                 try localFileSystem.writeFileContents(manifestTempFilePath, bytes: ByteString(manifestPreamble.contents + manifestContents))
 
+                #if os(Windows)
+                // On Windows, we seem to have issues with the VFS overlay, so let's disable it for now.
+                let effectiveManifestPath = manifestTempFilePath
+                let vfsOverlayTempFilePath: AbsolutePath? = nil
+                #else
+                let effectiveManifestPath = manifestPath
                 let vfsOverlayTempFilePath = tempDir.appending(component: "vfs.yaml")
                 try VFSOverlay(roots: [
                     VFSOverlay.File(name: manifestPath.pathString, externalContents: manifestTempFilePath.pathString)
                 ]).write(to: vfsOverlayTempFilePath, fileSystem: localFileSystem)
+                #endif
 
                 validateImports(manifestPath: manifestTempFilePath, toolsVersion: toolsVersion, callbackQueue: callbackQueue) { result in
                     dispatchPrecondition(condition: .onQueue(callbackQueue))
@@ -524,7 +531,7 @@ public final class ManifestLoader: ManifestLoaderProtocol {
                         try result.get()
 
                         try self.evaluateManifest(
-                            at: manifestPath,
+                            at: effectiveManifestPath,
                             vfsOverlayPath: vfsOverlayTempFilePath,
                             packageIdentity: packageIdentity,
                             toolsVersion: toolsVersion,
diff --git a/Tests/PackageLoadingTests/PD_5_6_LoadingTests.swift b/Tests/PackageLoadingTests/PD_5_6_LoadingTests.swift
index a54268bc743..d65ed94b289 100644
--- a/Tests/PackageLoadingTests/PD_5_6_LoadingTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/PackageLoadingTests/PD_5_6_LoadingTests.swift
@@ -215,6 +215,10 @@ class PackageDescription5_6LoadingTests: PackageDescriptionLoadingTests {
 
     /// Tests access to the package's directory contents.
     func testPackageContextDirectory() throws {
+        #if os(Windows)
+        throw XCTSkip("Skipping since this tests does not fully work without the VFS overlay which is currently disabled on Windows")
+        #endif
+
         let content = """
             import PackageDescription
             import Foundation