diff --git a/runtime/bin/dfe.cc b/runtime/bin/dfe.cc
index d941c0d6de7..be610de0578 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/dfe.cc
+++ b/runtime/bin/dfe.cc
@@ -55,15 +55,6 @@ static char* GetDirectoryPrefixFromExeName() {
     name = Platform::GetExecutableName();
     target_size = strlen(name);
   }
-  Namespace* namespc = Namespace::Create(Namespace::Default());
-  if (File::GetType(namespc, name, false) == File::kIsLink) {
-    // Resolve the link without creating Dart scope String.
-    name = File::LinkTarget(namespc, name, target, kTargetSize);
-    if (name == NULL) {
-      return strdup("");
-    }
-    target_size = strlen(name);
-  }
   const char* sep = File::PathSeparator();
   const intptr_t sep_length = strlen(sep);
 
diff --git a/runtime/bin/file.h b/runtime/bin/file.h
index c0ab0fb0777..9268cc91694 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/file.h
+++ b/runtime/bin/file.h
@@ -253,12 +253,7 @@ class File : public ReferenceCounted<File> {
   static StdioHandleType GetStdioHandleType(int fd);
 
   // LinkTarget, GetCanonicalPath, and ReadLink may call Dart_ScopeAllocate.
-  // If dest and its size are provided, Dart String will not be created.
-  // The result will be populated into dest.
-  static const char* LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
-                                const char* pathname,
-                                char* dest = NULL,
-                                int dest_size = 0);
+  static const char* LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc, const char* pathname);
   static const char* GetCanonicalPath(Namespace* namespc, const char* path);
   // Link LinkTarget, but pathname must be absolute.
   static const char* ReadLink(const char* pathname);
diff --git a/runtime/bin/file_android.cc b/runtime/bin/file_android.cc
index 59abc84eeab..a3bb55845a4 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/file_android.cc
+++ b/runtime/bin/file_android.cc
@@ -552,10 +552,7 @@ static int ReadLinkAt(int dirfd,
   return syscall(__NR_readlinkat, dirfd, pathname, buf, bufsize);
 }
 
-const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
-                             const char* name,
-                             char* dest,
-                             int dest_size) {
+const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc, const char* name) {
   NamespaceScope ns(namespc, name);
   struct stat link_stats;
   const int status = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(
@@ -577,17 +574,11 @@ const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
   if (target_size <= 0) {
     return NULL;
   }
-  if (dest == NULL) {
-    dest = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
-  } else {
-    ASSERT(dest_size > 0);
-    if (dest_size <= target_size) {
-      return NULL;
-    }
-  }
-  memmove(dest, target, target_size);
-  dest[target_size] = '\0';
-  return dest;
+  char* target_name = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
+  ASSERT(target_name != NULL);
+  memmove(target_name, target, target_size);
+  target_name[target_size] = '\0';
+  return target_name;
 }
 
 bool File::IsAbsolutePath(const char* pathname) {
diff --git a/runtime/bin/file_fuchsia.cc b/runtime/bin/file_fuchsia.cc
index 98b6537b032..182b4a99772 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/file_fuchsia.cc
+++ b/runtime/bin/file_fuchsia.cc
@@ -540,10 +540,7 @@ bool File::SetLastModified(Namespace* namespc,
   return utimensat(ns.fd(), ns.path(), times, 0) == 0;
 }
 
-const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
-                             const char* name,
-                             char* dest,
-                             int dest_size) {
+const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc, const char* name) {
   NamespaceScope ns(namespc, name);
   struct stat link_stats;
   const int status = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(
@@ -565,17 +562,11 @@ const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
   if (target_size <= 0) {
     return NULL;
   }
-  if (dest == NULL) {
-    dest = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
-  } else {
-    ASSERT(dest_size > 0);
-    if (dest_size <= target_size) {
-      return NULL;
-    }
-  }
-  memmove(dest, target, target_size);
-  dest[target_size] = '\0';
-  return dest;
+  char* target_name = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
+  ASSERT(target_name != NULL);
+  memmove(target_name, target, target_size);
+  target_name[target_size] = '\0';
+  return target_name;
 }
 
 bool File::IsAbsolutePath(const char* pathname) {
diff --git a/runtime/bin/file_linux.cc b/runtime/bin/file_linux.cc
index c012f8af489..bf51aba5cc7 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/file_linux.cc
+++ b/runtime/bin/file_linux.cc
@@ -549,10 +549,7 @@ bool File::SetLastModified(Namespace* namespc,
   return utimensat(ns.fd(), ns.path(), times, 0) == 0;
 }
 
-const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
-                             const char* name,
-                             char* dest,
-                             int dest_size) {
+const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc, const char* name) {
   NamespaceScope ns(namespc, name);
   struct stat64 link_stats;
   const int status = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(
@@ -574,17 +571,11 @@ const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
   if (target_size <= 0) {
     return NULL;
   }
-  if (dest == NULL) {
-    dest = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
-  } else {
-    ASSERT(dest_size > 0);
-    if (dest_size <= target_size) {
-      return NULL;
-    }
-  }
-  memmove(dest, target, target_size);
-  dest[target_size] = '\0';
-  return dest;
+  char* target_name = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
+  ASSERT(target_name != NULL);
+  memmove(target_name, target, target_size);
+  target_name[target_size] = '\0';
+  return target_name;
 }
 
 bool File::IsAbsolutePath(const char* pathname) {
diff --git a/runtime/bin/file_macos.cc b/runtime/bin/file_macos.cc
index 456023c909e..2e132827c2d 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/file_macos.cc
+++ b/runtime/bin/file_macos.cc
@@ -518,10 +518,7 @@ bool File::SetLastModified(Namespace* namespc,
   return utime(name, &times) == 0;
 }
 
-const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
-                             const char* pathname,
-                             char* dest,
-                             int dest_size) {
+const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc, const char* pathname) {
   struct stat link_stats;
   if (lstat(pathname, &link_stats) != 0) {
     return NULL;
@@ -539,17 +536,11 @@ const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
   if (target_size <= 0) {
     return NULL;
   }
-  if (dest == NULL) {
-    dest = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
-  } else {
-    ASSERT(dest_size > 0);
-    if ((size_t)dest_size <= target_size) {
-      return NULL;
-    }
-  }
-  memmove(dest, target, target_size);
-  dest[target_size] = '\0';
-  return dest;
+  char* target_name = DartUtils::ScopedCString(target_size + 1);
+  ASSERT(target_name != NULL);
+  memmove(target_name, target, target_size);
+  target_name[target_size] = '\0';
+  return target_name;
 }
 
 bool File::IsAbsolutePath(const char* pathname) {
diff --git a/runtime/bin/file_win.cc b/runtime/bin/file_win.cc
index 975bd12184a..f5c6010f9cd 100644
--- a/runtime/bin/file_win.cc
+++ b/runtime/bin/file_win.cc
@@ -517,10 +517,7 @@ int64_t File::LengthFromPath(Namespace* namespc, const char* name) {
   return st.st_size;
 }
 
-const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
-                             const char* pathname,
-                             char* dest,
-                             int dest_size) {
+const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc, const char* pathname) {
   const wchar_t* name = StringUtilsWin::Utf8ToWide(pathname);
   HANDLE dir_handle = CreateFileW(
       name, GENERIC_READ,
@@ -574,18 +571,13 @@ const char* File::LinkTarget(Namespace* namespc,
   }
   int utf8_length = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, target, target_length, NULL,
                                         0, NULL, NULL);
-  if (dest_size > 0 && dest_size <= utf8_length) {
-    return NULL;
-  }
-  if (dest == NULL) {
-    dest = DartUtils::ScopedCString(utf8_length + 1);
-  }
-  if (0 == WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, target, target_length, dest,
+  char* utf8_target = DartUtils::ScopedCString(utf8_length + 1);
+  if (0 == WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, target, target_length, utf8_target,
                                utf8_length, NULL, NULL)) {
     return NULL;
   }
-  dest[utf8_length] = '\0';
-  return dest;
+  utf8_target[utf8_length] = '\0';
+  return utf8_target;
 }
 
 void File::Stat(Namespace* namespc, const char* name, int64_t* data) {