diff --git a/libcontainer/integration/utils_test.go b/libcontainer/integration/utils_test.go
index 74d94135264..e209c9bcfde 100644
--- a/libcontainer/integration/utils_test.go
+++ b/libcontainer/integration/utils_test.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func remove(dir string) {
 // copyBusybox copies the rootfs for a busybox container created for the test image
 // into the new directory for the specific test
 func copyBusybox(dest string) error {
-	out, err := exec.Command("sh", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("cp -R /busybox/* %s/", dest)).CombinedOutput()
+	out, err := exec.Command("sh", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("cp -a /busybox/* %s/", dest)).CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("copy error %q: %q", err, out)
 	}