diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
index 9423a4e32cf3..76a51376950b 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/singularity-tools/default.nix
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ lib.makeExtensible (final: {
             mkdir -p bin ./${builtins.storeDir}
             # Loop over the line-separated paths in $layerClosure
             while IFS= read -r f; do
-              cp -r "$f" "./$f"
+              cp -ar "$f" "./$f"
             done < "$layerClosure"
 
             # TODO(@ShamrockLee):