diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eba0962..e43d069 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -22,6 +22,6 @@ release: commit-patch-$(VERSION)
 
 commit-patch-$(VERSION): commit-patch commit-partial commit-patch-buffer.el commit-patch.1 commit-partial.1 commit-patch.html Makefile README COPYING ChangeLog
 	mkdir commit-patch-$(VERSION)
-	cp -p $^ commit-patch-$(VERSION)
+	rsync -a $^ commit-patch-$(VERSION)
 	tar czf commit-patch-$(VERSION).tar.gz commit-patch-$(VERSION)
 	rm -rf commit-patch-$(VERSION)