diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/loader/loader.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/loader/loader.go
index 0c234e8975..182379f0df 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/loader/loader.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/loader/loader.go
@@ -432,16 +432,16 @@ func (st *loadState) addSym(name string, ver int, r *oReader, li uint32, kind in
 		return i
 	}
 	// symbol already exists
+	// Fix for issue #47185 -- given two dupok or BSS symbols with
+	// different sizes, favor symbol with larger size. See also
+	// issue #46653 and #72032.
+	oldsz := l.SymSize(oldi)
+	sz := int64(r.Sym(li).Siz())
 	if osym.Dupok() {
 		if l.flags&FlagStrictDups != 0 {
 			l.checkdup(name, r, li, oldi)
 		}
-		// Fix for issue #47185 -- given two dupok symbols with
-		// different sizes, favor symbol with larger size. See
-		// also issue #46653.
-		szdup := l.SymSize(oldi)
-		sz := int64(r.Sym(li).Siz())
-		if szdup < sz {
+		if oldsz < sz {
 			// new symbol overwrites old symbol.
 			l.objSyms[oldi] = objSym{r.objidx, li}
 		}
@@ -452,11 +452,24 @@ func (st *loadState) addSym(name string, ver int, r *oReader, li uint32, kind in
 	if oldsym.Dupok() {
 		return oldi
 	}
-	overwrite := r.DataSize(li) != 0
+	// If one is a DATA symbol (i.e. has content, DataSize != 0)
+	// and the other is BSS, the one with content wins.
+	// If both are BSS, the one with larger size wins.
+	// Specifically, the "overwrite" variable and the final result are
+	//
+	// new sym       old sym       overwrite
+	// ---------------------------------------------
+	// DATA          DATA          true  => ERROR
+	// DATA lg/eq    BSS  sm/eq    true  => new wins
+	// DATA small    BSS  large    true  => ERROR
+	// BSS  large    DATA small    true  => ERROR
+	// BSS  large    BSS  small    true  => new wins
+	// BSS  sm/eq    D/B  lg/eq    false => old wins
+	overwrite := r.DataSize(li) != 0 || oldsz < sz
 	if overwrite {
 		// new symbol overwrites old symbol.
 		oldtyp := sym.AbiSymKindToSymKind[objabi.SymKind(oldsym.Type())]
-		if !(oldtyp.IsData() && oldr.DataSize(oldli) == 0) {
+		if !(oldtyp.IsData() && oldr.DataSize(oldli) == 0) || oldsz > sz {
 			log.Fatalf("duplicated definition of symbol %s, from %s and %s", name, r.unit.Lib.Pkg, oldr.unit.Lib.Pkg)
 		}
 		l.objSyms[oldi] = objSym{r.objidx, li}
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/link_test.go b/src/cmd/link/link_test.go
index ab56b49e15..5f265c4c2b 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/link_test.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/link_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	imacho "cmd/internal/macho"
+	"cmd/internal/objfile"
 	"cmd/internal/sys"
 )
 
@@ -1541,3 +1542,52 @@ func TestCheckLinkname(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestLinknameBSS(t *testing.T) {
+	// Test that the linker chooses the right one as the definition
+	// for linknamed variables. See issue #72032.
+	testenv.MustHaveGoBuild(t)
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	tmpdir := t.TempDir()
+
+	src := filepath.Join("testdata", "linkname", "sched.go")
+	exe := filepath.Join(tmpdir, "sched.exe")
+	cmd := testenv.Command(t, testenv.GoToolPath(t), "build", "-o", exe, src)
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("build failed unexpectedly: %v:\n%s", err, out)
+	}
+
+	// Check the symbol size.
+	f, err := objfile.Open(exe)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("fail to open executable: %v", err)
+	}
+	syms, err := f.Symbols()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("fail to get symbols: %v", err)
+	}
+	found := false
+	for _, s := range syms {
+		if s.Name == "runtime.sched" || s.Name == "_runtime.sched" {
+			found = true
+			if s.Size < 100 {
+				// As of Go 1.25 (Mar 2025), runtime.sched has 6848 bytes on
+				// darwin/arm64. It should always be larger than 100 bytes on
+				// all platforms.
+				t.Errorf("runtime.sched symbol size too small: want > 100, got %d", s.Size)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("runtime.sched symbol not found")
+	}
+
+	// Executable should run.
+	cmd = testenv.Command(t, exe)
+	out, err = cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("executable failed to run: %v\n%s", err, out)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/testdata/linkname/sched.go b/src/cmd/link/testdata/linkname/sched.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a9d66f495
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmd/link/testdata/linkname/sched.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// Copyright 2025 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package main
+
+import _ "unsafe"
+
+type schedt struct{}
+
+//go:linkname sched runtime.sched
+var sched schedt
+
+func main() {
+	select {
+	default:
+		println("hello")
+	}
+}