diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix
index 8ec9ec6c8b4..e146086b554 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ buildGoPackage rec {
   nativeBuildInputs = [ removeReferencesTo utillinux which makeWrapper ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ coreutils squashfsTools ];
 
+  prePatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace internal/pkg/build/copy/copy.go \
+      --replace /bin/cp ${coreutils}/bin/cp
+  '';
+
   postConfigure = ''
     cd go/src/github.com/sylabs/singularity