diff --git a/docs/changelog/2182.bugfix.txt b/docs/changelog/2182.bugfix.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f26a202b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/2182.bugfix.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fixed path collision that could lead to a PermissionError or writing to system
+directories when using PyPy3.8 - by :user:`mgorny`.
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/create/via_global_ref/builtin/pypy/pypy3.py b/src/virtualenv/create/via_global_ref/builtin/pypy/pypy3.py
index be5319a2b..f740de963 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/create/via_global_ref/builtin/pypy/pypy3.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/create/via_global_ref/builtin/pypy/pypy3.py
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ def sources(cls, interpreter):
         host_lib = Path(interpreter.system_prefix) / "lib"
         if host_lib.exists() and host_lib.is_dir():
             for path in host_lib.iterdir():
+                if path.is_dir():
+                    continue
                 yield PathRefToDest(path, dest=cls.to_lib)