diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix
index f56c15d0b99c..985f46ed9607 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/singularity/default.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   preConfigure = ''
     sed -i 's/-static//g' src/Makefile.am
     patchShebangs .
+    substituteInPlace libexec/bootstrap-scripts/deffile-sections.sh \
+      --replace /bin/cp ${coreutils}/bin/cp
   '';
 
   configureFlags = [ "--localstatedir=/var" ];