diff --git a/src/nimble.nim b/src/nimble.nim
index a3d0096..9b9de0b 100644
--- a/src/nimble.nim
+++ b/src/nimble.nim
@@ -620,9 +620,9 @@ proc listPaths(options: Options) =
       if not nimbleFile.existsFile:
         let nimbleLinkFile = path / name.addFileExt("nimble-link")
         if fileExists(nimbleLinkFile):
-          let lns = readFile(nimbleLinkFile).splitLines()
-          nimbleFile = lns[0]
-          nimbleLinkTargetPath = lns[1]
+          let lnk = readNimbleLink(nimbleLinkFile)
+          nimbleFile = lnk.nimbleFilePath
+          nimbleLinkTargetPath = lnk.packageDir
 
       if nimbleFile.existsFile:
         var pkgInfo = getPkgInfo(path, options)
@@ -873,9 +873,9 @@ proc developFromDir(dir: string, options: Options) =
   # need to be read. This will mean that users will need to re-run
   # `nimble develop` if they change their `srcDir` but I think it's a worthy
   # compromise.
-  let contents = pkgInfo.myPath & "\n" & pkgInfo.getRealDir()
   let nimbleLinkPath = pkgDestDir / pkgInfo.name.addFileExt("nimble-link")
-  writeFile(nimbleLinkPath, contents)
+  writeNimbleLink(nimbleLinkPath,
+    NimbleLink(nimbleFilePath: pkgInfo.myPath, packageDir: pkgInfo.getRealDir()))
 
   # Save a nimblemeta.json file.
   saveNimbleMeta(pkgDestDir, "file://" & dir, vcsRevisionInDir(dir),
diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
index 85821d5..fecdae0 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ type
   MetaData* = object
     url*: string
 
+  NimbleLink* = object
+    nimbleFilePath*: string
+    packageDir*: string
+
 proc initPackageInfo*(path: string): PackageInfo =
   result.myPath = path
   result.specialVersion = ""
@@ -141,6 +145,15 @@ proc readMetaData*(path: string): MetaData =
   let jsonmeta = parseJson(cont)
   result.url = jsonmeta["url"].str
 
+proc readNimbleLink*(nimbleLinkPath: string): NimbleLink =
+  let s = readFile(nimbleLinkPath).splitLines()
+  result.nimbleFilePath = s[0]
+  result.packageDir = s[1]
+
+proc writeNimbleLink*(nimbleLinkPath: string, contents: NimbleLink) =
+  let c = contents.nimbleFilePath & "\n" & contents.packageDir
+  writeFile(nimbleLinkPath, c)
+
 proc needsRefresh*(options: Options): bool =
   ## Determines whether a ``nimble refresh`` is needed.
   ##
@@ -298,8 +311,7 @@ proc findNimbleFile*(dir: string; error: bool): string =
 
   if result.splitFile.ext == ".nimble-link":
     # Return the path of the real .nimble file.
-    let lines = readFile(result).splitLines()
-    result = lines[0]
+    result = readNimbleLink(result).nimbleFilePath
     if not fileExists(result):
       raiseNimbleError("The .nimble-link file is pointing to a missing" &
                        " file: " & result)