diff --git a/src/libutil/fs-sink.hh b/src/libutil/fs-sink.hh
index 6567d7aa7b1..5bdf60b92c8 100644
--- a/src/libutil/fs-sink.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/fs-sink.hh
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ struct RestoreSink : ParseSink
     void copyDirectory(const Path & source, const Path & destination)
     {
         Path p = dstPath + destination;
-        boost::filesystem::copy(source, p);
+        boost::filesystem::copy(source, p, boost::filesystem::copy_option::overwrite_if_exists);
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/git.cc b/src/libutil/git.cc
index aa96fd9bd99..b926c9fe515 100644
--- a/src/libutil/git.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/git.cc
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ static void parse(ParseSink & sink, Source & source, const Path & path, const Pa
                     throw SysError(format("file is a directory but expected to be a file '%1%'") % entry);
 
                 sink.createDirectory(path + "/" + name);
-                sink.copyDirectory(realStoreDir + "/" + entryName, path + "/" + name);
+                sink.copyDirectory(entry, path + "/" + name, copy_option::overwrite_if_exists);
             } else throw Error(format("file '%1%' has an unsupported type") % entry);
         }
     } else throw Error("input doesn't look like a Git object");