diff --git a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/ftp.html b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/ftp.html
index b0b07e005..2db8a5912 100644
--- a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/ftp.html
+++ b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/ftp.html
@@ -137,6 +137,13 @@ the code to parse MS-DOS listings -any takers?
     remainder of the files still transferred. Default: false</td>
     <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
   </tr>  
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">preservelastmodified</td>
+    <td valign="top">Give the copied files the same last modified
+      time as the original source files (applies to getting files only).
+      (<em>Note</em>: Ignored on Java 1.1)</td>
+    <td valign="top" align="center">No; defaults to false.</td>
+  </tr>
 </table>
 <h3>Sending Files</h3>
 <p>The easiest way to describe how to send files is with a couple of examples:</p>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/net/FTP.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/net/FTP.java
index 7870260a4..f2734ffa7 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/net/FTP.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/net/FTP.java
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ public class FTP
     private boolean skipFailedTransfers = false;
     private int skipped = 0;
     private boolean ignoreNoncriticalErrors = false;
+    private boolean preserveLastModified = false;
     private String chmod = null;
     private String umask = null;
     private FileUtils fileUtils = FileUtils.newFileUtils();
@@ -330,6 +331,14 @@ public class FTP
     }
 
 
+    /**
+     * Set to true to preserve modification times for "gotten" files.
+     */
+    public void setPreserveLastModified(boolean preserveLastModified) {
+        this.preserveLastModified = preserveLastModified;
+    }
+
+
     /**
      * Set to true to transmit only files that are new or changed from their
      * remote counterparts. The default is to transmit all files.
@@ -822,6 +831,16 @@ public class FTP
                 log("File " + file.getAbsolutePath() + " copied from "
                      + server, Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
                 transferred++;
+                if (preserveLastModified) {
+                    outstream.close();
+                    outstream = null;
+                    FTPFile[] remote = ftp.listFiles(resolveFile(filename));
+                    if (remote.length > 0) {
+                        fileUtils.setFileLastModified(file,
+                                                      remote[0].getTimestamp()
+                                                      .getTime().getTime());
+                    }
+                }
             }
         } finally {
             if (outstream != null) {