diff --git a/devtools/deploy/mac/mk_pypack_macos.zsh.in b/devtools/deploy/mac/mk_pypack_macos.zsh.in
index b130bdd8463e6ee83504e9c04cd18b9c1728ebce..cec63088fade33fbc9c46ec7654a4ec6425b0df0 100644
--- a/devtools/deploy/mac/mk_pypack_macos.zsh.in
+++ b/devtools/deploy/mac/mk_pypack_macos.zsh.in
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ done
 echo "$TITLE: Copying external dependencies to '$xlibdir'..."
 
 for pth fnm in ${(@kv)ex_deps}; do
-    cp -nf "$pth" "$xlibdir/$fnm"
+    cp -fL "$pth" "$xlibdir/$fnm"
 done
 
 # report the external libraries