diff --git a/mount/mount_windows.go b/mount/mount_windows.go
index e964c9bfb..3ef7a3872 100644
--- a/mount/mount_windows.go
+++ b/mount/mount_windows.go
@@ -99,6 +99,14 @@ func (m *Mount) mount(target string) (retErr error) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get volume path for layer %s: %w", m.Source, err)
 	}
 
+	if len(parentLayerPaths) == 0 {
+		// this is a base layer. It gets mounted without going through WCIFS. We need to mount the Files
+		// folder, not the actual source, or the client may inadvertently remove metadata files.
+		volume = filepath.Join(volume, "Files")
+		if _, err := os.Stat(volume); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("no Files folder in layer %s", layerID)
+		}
+	}
 	if err := bindfilter.ApplyFileBinding(target, volume, m.ReadOnly()); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set volume mount path for layer %s: %w", m.Source, err)
 	}
diff --git a/snapshots/windows/windows.go b/snapshots/windows/windows.go
index 0f35000a7..eca46dfe8 100644
--- a/snapshots/windows/windows.go
+++ b/snapshots/windows/windows.go
@@ -319,16 +319,6 @@ func (s *snapshotter) mounts(sn storage.Snapshot, key string) []mount.Mount {
 
 	mountType := "windows-layer"
 
-	if len(sn.ParentIDs) == 0 {
-		// A mount of a parentless snapshot is a bind-mount.
-		mountType = "bind"
-		// If not being extracted into, then the bind-target is the
-		// "Files" subdirectory.
-		if !strings.Contains(key, snapshots.UnpackKeyPrefix) {
-			source = filepath.Join(source, "Files")
-		}
-	}
-
 	// error is not checked here, as a string array will never fail to Marshal
 	parentLayersJSON, _ := json.Marshal(parentLayerPaths)
 	parentLayersOption := mount.ParentLayerPathsFlag + string(parentLayersJSON)
@@ -336,7 +326,7 @@ func (s *snapshotter) mounts(sn storage.Snapshot, key string) []mount.Mount {
 	options := []string{
 		roFlag,
 	}
-	if mountType != "bind" {
+	if len(sn.ParentIDs) != 0 {
 		options = append(options, parentLayersOption)
 	}
 	mounts := []mount.Mount{