diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/assets/lib/fs/options.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/assets/lib/fs/options.ts
index 548fa4bda42ee..3ccc107d3700d 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/assets/lib/fs/options.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/assets/lib/fs/options.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ export interface CopyOptions {
    * A strategy for how to handle symlinks.
    *
    * @default Never
-   * @deprecated use `followSymlinks` instead
    */
   readonly follow?: FollowMode;
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecr-assets/lib/image-asset.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecr-assets/lib/image-asset.ts
index 3dd422c694176..26a3a40f35335 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecr-assets/lib/image-asset.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ecr-assets/lib/image-asset.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as assets from '@aws-cdk/assets';
 import * as ecr from '@aws-cdk/aws-ecr';
-import { Annotations, AssetStaging, FeatureFlags, FileFingerprintOptions, IgnoreMode, Stack, SymlinkFollowMode, Token } from '@aws-cdk/core';
+import { Annotations, FeatureFlags, IgnoreMode, Stack, Token } from '@aws-cdk/core';
 import * as cxapi from '@aws-cdk/cx-api';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { Construct as CoreConstruct } from '@aws-cdk/core';
 /**
  * Options for DockerImageAsset
  */
-export interface DockerImageAssetOptions extends assets.FingerprintOptions, FileFingerprintOptions {
+export interface DockerImageAssetOptions extends assets.FingerprintOptions {
   /**
    * ECR repository name
    *
@@ -141,9 +141,8 @@ export class DockerImageAsset extends CoreConstruct implements assets.IAsset {
     // deletion of the ECR repository the app used).
     extraHash.version = '1.21.0';
 
-    const staging = new AssetStaging(this, 'Staging', {
+    const staging = new assets.Staging(this, 'Staging', {
       ...props,
-      follow: props.followSymlinks ?? toSymlinkFollow(props.follow),
       exclude,
       ignoreMode,
       sourcePath: dir,
@@ -186,13 +185,3 @@ function validateBuildArgs(buildArgs?: { [key: string]: string }) {
     }
   }
 }
-
-function toSymlinkFollow(follow?: assets.FollowMode): SymlinkFollowMode | undefined {
-  switch (follow) {
-    case undefined: return undefined;
-    case assets.FollowMode.NEVER: return SymlinkFollowMode.NEVER;
-    case assets.FollowMode.ALWAYS: return SymlinkFollowMode.ALWAYS;
-    case assets.FollowMode.BLOCK_EXTERNAL: return SymlinkFollowMode.BLOCK_EXTERNAL;
-    case assets.FollowMode.EXTERNAL: return SymlinkFollowMode.EXTERNAL;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets/lib/asset.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets/lib/asset.ts
index aa342337a9df3..510834a61c634 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets/lib/asset.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-assets/lib/asset.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { toSymlinkFollow } from './compat';
 // eslint-disable-next-line no-duplicate-imports, import/order
 import { Construct as CoreConstruct } from '@aws-cdk/core';
 
-export interface AssetOptions extends assets.CopyOptions, cdk.FileCopyOptions, cdk.AssetOptions {
+export interface AssetOptions extends assets.CopyOptions, cdk.AssetOptions {
   /**
    * A list of principals that should be able to read this asset from S3.
    * You can use `asset.grantRead(principal)` to grant read permissions later.
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ export class Asset extends CoreConstruct implements cdk.IAsset {
     const staging = new cdk.AssetStaging(this, 'Stage', {
       ...props,
       sourcePath: path.resolve(props.path),
-      follow: props.followSymlinks ?? toSymlinkFollow(props.follow),
+      follow: toSymlinkFollow(props.follow),
       assetHash: props.assetHash ?? props.sourceHash,
     });
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/fs/options.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/fs/options.ts
index baf73bd7ffd30..3ea836a24e831 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/fs/options.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/fs/options.ts
@@ -56,9 +56,19 @@ export enum IgnoreMode {
    * context flag is set.
    */
   DOCKER = 'docker'
-}
+};
+
+/**
+ * Obtains applied when copying directories into the staging location.
+ */
+export interface CopyOptions {
+  /**
+   * A strategy for how to handle symlinks.
+   *
+   * @default SymlinkFollowMode.NEVER
+   */
+  readonly follow?: SymlinkFollowMode;
 
-interface FileOptions {
   /**
    * Glob patterns to exclude from the copy.
    *
@@ -75,30 +85,9 @@ interface FileOptions {
 }
 
 /**
- * Options applied when copying directories
- */
-export interface CopyOptions extends FileOptions {
-  /**
-   * A strategy for how to handle symlinks.
-   *
-   * @default SymlinkFollowMode.NEVER
-   */
-  readonly follow?: SymlinkFollowMode;
-}
-
-/**
- * Options applied when copying directories into the staging location.
+ * Options related to calculating source hash.
  */
-export interface FileCopyOptions extends FileOptions {
-  /**
-   * A strategy for how to handle symlinks.
-   *
-   * @default SymlinkFollowMode.NEVER
-   */
-  readonly followSymlinks?: SymlinkFollowMode;
-}
-
-interface ExtraHashOptions {
+export interface FingerprintOptions extends CopyOptions {
   /**
    * Extra information to encode into the fingerprint (e.g. build instructions
    * and other inputs)
@@ -107,15 +96,3 @@ interface ExtraHashOptions {
    */
   readonly extraHash?: string;
 }
-
-/**
- * Options related to calculating source hash.
- */
-export interface FingerprintOptions extends CopyOptions, ExtraHashOptions {
-}
-
-/**
- * Options related to calculating source hash.
- */
-export interface FileFingerprintOptions extends FileCopyOptions, ExtraHashOptions {
-}