diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html
index dd16c719e..df277669e 100644
--- a/docs/index.html
+++ b/docs/index.html
@@ -855,6 +855,13 @@ this attribute has been replaced by the <i>excludes</i> attribute.</p>
       the copy</td>
     <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">flatten</td>
+    <td valign="top">ignore directory structure of source directory,
+      copy all files into a single directory - specified by the dest
+      attribute (default is false).</td>
+    <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">forceoverwrite</td>
     <td valign="top">overwrite existing files even if the destination
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copydir.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copydir.java
index 393a2b355..6d6292d3b 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copydir.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copydir.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ public class Copydir extends MatchingTask {
     private File srcDir;
     private File destDir;
     private boolean filtering = false;
+    private boolean flatten = false;
     private boolean forceOverwrite = false;
     private Hashtable filecopyList = new Hashtable();
 
@@ -85,6 +86,10 @@ public class Copydir extends MatchingTask {
         filtering = Project.toBoolean(filter);
     }
 
+    public void setFlatten(boolean flatten) {
+        this.flatten = flatten;
+    }
+
     public void setForceoverwrite(String force) {
         forceOverwrite = Project.toBoolean(force);
     }
@@ -127,7 +132,12 @@ public class Copydir extends MatchingTask {
         for (int i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
             String filename = files[i];
             File srcFile = new File(from, filename);
-            File destFile = new File(to, filename);
+            File destFile;
+            if (flatten) {
+                destFile = new File(to, new File(filename).getName());
+            } else {
+                destFile = new File(to, filename);
+            }
             if (forceOverwrite ||
                 (srcFile.lastModified() > destFile.lastModified())) {
                 filecopyList.put(srcFile.getAbsolutePath(),