diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
index 4841bdd91..d84cc2560 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
@@ -107,6 +107,9 @@ public class Project {
 
     private Vector listeners = new Vector();
 
+    private static java.lang.reflect.Method setLastModified = null;
+    private static Object lockReflection = new Object();
+
     static {
 
         // Determine the Java version by looking at available classes
@@ -672,6 +675,22 @@ public class Project {
                  overwrite);
     }
 
+     /**
+     * Convienence method to copy a file from a source to a
+     * destination specifying if token filtering must be used, if
+     * source files may overwrite newer destination files and the
+     * last modified time of <code>destFile</code> file should be made equal
+     * to the last modified time of <code>sourceFile</code>.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException 
+     */
+    public void copyFile(String sourceFile, String destFile, boolean filtering,
+                         boolean overwrite, boolean preserveLastModified)
+        throws IOException {
+        copyFile(new File(sourceFile), new File(destFile), filtering, 
+                 overwrite, preserveLastModified);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Convienence method to copy a file from a source to a destination.
      * No filtering is performed.
@@ -689,8 +708,7 @@ public class Project {
      * @throws IOException
      */
     public void copyFile(File sourceFile, File destFile, boolean filtering)
-        throws IOException
-    {
+        throws IOException {
         copyFile(sourceFile, destFile, filtering, false);
     }
 
@@ -703,7 +721,22 @@ public class Project {
      */
     public void copyFile(File sourceFile, File destFile, boolean filtering,
                          boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
+        copyFile(sourceFile, destFile, filtering, overwrite, false);
+    }
 
+    /**
+     * Convienence method to copy a file from a source to a
+     * destination specifying if token filtering must be used, if
+     * source files may overwrite newer destination files and the
+     * last modified time of <code>destFile</code> file should be made equal
+     * to the last modified time of <code>sourceFile</code>.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException 
+     */
+    public void copyFile(File sourceFile, File destFile, boolean filtering,
+                         boolean overwrite, boolean preserveLastModified)
+        throws IOException {
+        
         if (overwrite ||
             destFile.lastModified() < sourceFile.lastModified()) {
             log("Copy: " + sourceFile.getAbsolutePath() + " > "
@@ -750,6 +783,52 @@ public class Project {
                 in.close();
                 out.close();
             }
+
+            if (preserveLastModified) {
+                setFileLastModified(destFile, sourceFile.lastModified());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Calls File.setLastModified(long time) in a Java 1.1 compatible way.
+     */
+    void setFileLastModified(File file, long time) throws BuildException {
+        if (getJavaVersion() == JAVA_1_1) {
+            log("Cannot change the modification time of " + file
+                + " in JDK 1.1", Project.MSG_WARN);
+            return;
+        }
+        if (setLastModified == null) {
+            synchronized (lockReflection) {
+                if (setLastModified == null) {
+                    try {
+                        setLastModified = 
+                            java.io.File.class.getMethod("setLastModified", 
+                                                         new Class[] {Long.TYPE});
+                    } catch (NoSuchMethodException nse) {
+                        throw new BuildException("File.setlastModified not in JDK > 1.1?",
+                                                 nse);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        Long[] times = new Long[1];
+        if (time < 0) {
+            times[0] = new Long(System.currentTimeMillis());
+        } else {
+            times[0] = new Long(time);
+        }
+        try {
+            log("Setting modification time for " + file, MSG_VERBOSE);
+            setLastModified.invoke(file, times);
+        } catch (java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException ite) {
+            Throwable nested = ite.getTargetException();
+            throw new BuildException("Exception setting the modification time "
+                                     + "of " + file, nested);
+        } catch (Throwable other) {
+            throw new BuildException("Exception setting the modification time "
+                                     + "of " + file, other);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copy.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copy.java
index 951a49d88..8c1f17c87 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copy.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Copy.java
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ public class Copy extends Task {
     protected Vector filesets = new Vector();
 
     protected boolean filtering = false;
+    protected boolean preserveLastModified = false;
     protected boolean forceOverwrite = false;
     protected boolean flatten = false;
     protected int verbosity = Project.MSG_VERBOSE;
@@ -112,6 +113,13 @@ public class Copy extends Task {
         this.destDir = destDir;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Give the copied files the same last modified time as the original files.
+     */
+    public void setPreserveLastModified(String preserve) {
+        preserveLastModified = Project.toBoolean(preserve);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Sets filtering.
      */
@@ -327,7 +335,8 @@ public class Copy extends Task {
                     project.copyFile(fromFile, 
                                      toFile, 
                                      filtering, 
-                                     forceOverwrite);
+                                     forceOverwrite,
+                                     preserveLastModified);
                 } catch (IOException ioe) {
                     String msg = "Failed to copy " + fromFile + " to " + toFile
                         + " due to " + ioe.getMessage();