diff --git a/repos/ports/recipes/src/coreutils/content.mk b/repos/ports/recipes/src/coreutils/content.mk
index 2a744022df..2364c936ff 100644
--- a/repos/ports/recipes/src/coreutils/content.mk
+++ b/repos/ports/recipes/src/coreutils/content.mk
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ PORT_DIR := $(call port_dir,$(REP_DIR)/ports/coreutils)
 
 src/noux-pkg/coreutils:
 	mkdir -p $@
-	cp -r $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/coreutils/* $@
-	cp -r $(addprefix $(REP_DIR)/,$(COREUTILS_SRC)) $@
+	cp -a $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/coreutils/* $@
+	cp -a $(addprefix $(REP_DIR)/,$(COREUTILS_SRC)) $@
 
 LICENSE:
 	cp $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/coreutils/COPYING $@
diff --git a/repos/ports/recipes/src/e2fsprogs/content.mk b/repos/ports/recipes/src/e2fsprogs/content.mk
index 879d8984d3..9fc9b73db7 100644
--- a/repos/ports/recipes/src/e2fsprogs/content.mk
+++ b/repos/ports/recipes/src/e2fsprogs/content.mk
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ PORT_DIR := $(call port_dir,$(REP_DIR)/ports/e2fsprogs)
 
 src/noux-pkg/e2fsprogs:
 	mkdir -p $@
-	cp -r $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/e2fsprogs/* $@
-	cp -r  $(REP_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/e2fsprogs/* $@
+	cp -a $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/e2fsprogs/* $@
+	cp -a  $(REP_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/e2fsprogs/* $@
 
 LICENSE:
 	cp $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/e2fsprogs/COPYING $@
diff --git a/repos/ports/recipes/src/vim/content.mk b/repos/ports/recipes/src/vim/content.mk
index 9bffdf78f0..e98f68fb86 100644
--- a/repos/ports/recipes/src/vim/content.mk
+++ b/repos/ports/recipes/src/vim/content.mk
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ PORT_DIR := $(call port_dir,$(REP_DIR)/ports/vim)
 
 src/noux-pkg/vim:
 	mkdir -p $@
-	cp -r $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/vim/* $@
-	cp -r $(addprefix $(REP_DIR)/,$(VIM_SRC)) $@
+	cp -a $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/vim/* $@
+	cp -a $(addprefix $(REP_DIR)/,$(VIM_SRC)) $@
 
 LICENSE:
 	cp $(PORT_DIR)/src/noux-pkg/vim/runtime/doc/uganda.txt $@