diff --git a/qubes-rpc/qfile-agent.c b/qubes-rpc/qfile-agent.c
index 51a7337..c3c8178 100644
--- a/qubes-rpc/qfile-agent.c
+++ b/qubes-rpc/qfile-agent.c
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ enum {
 	PROGRESS_FLAG_DONE
 };
 
+int ignore_symlinks = 0;
+
 unsigned long crc32_sum;
 int write_all_with_crc(int fd, void *buf, int size)
 {
@@ -143,7 +145,7 @@ int single_file_processor(char *filename, struct stat *st)
 		hdr.filelen = 0;
 		write_headers(&hdr, filename);
 	}
-	if (S_ISLNK(mode)) {
+	if (S_ISLNK(mode) && !ignore_symlinks) {
 		char name[st->st_size + 1];
 		if (readlink(filename, name, sizeof(name)) != st->st_size)
 			gui_fatal("readlink %s", filename);
@@ -227,6 +229,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	crc32_sum = 0;
 	cwd = getcwd(NULL, 0);
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+		if (strcmp(argv[i], "--ignore-symlinks")==0) {
+			ignore_symlinks = 1;
+			continue;
+		}
+
 		entry = get_abs_path(cwd, argv[i]);
 
 		do {
diff --git a/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm b/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm
index be0804a..3d1716c 100755
--- a/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm
+++ b/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ VM="$1"
 shift
 
 if [ $PROGRESS_TYPE = console ] ; then
-	export FILECOPY_TOTAL_SIZE=$(du --apparent-size -c "$@" | tail -1 | cut -f 1)
+	export FILECOPY_TOTAL_SIZE=$(du --apparent-size -c -- "$@" 2> /dev/null | tail -1 | cut -f 1)
 fi
 
 exec /usr/lib/qubes/qrexec-client-vm $VM qubes.Filecopy /usr/lib/qubes/qfile-agent "$@"
diff --git a/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.gnome b/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.gnome
index 4199476..4b69c06 100755
--- a/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.gnome
+++ b/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.gnome
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 VM=$(qvm-mru-entry --title="File Copy" --text="Enter the destination domain name:" --mrufile "qvm-mru-filecopy")
 if [ X$VM = X ] ; then exit 0 ; fi
 
-SIZE=$(du --apparent-size -c "$@" | tail -1 | cut -f 1)
+SIZE=$(du --apparent-size -c -- "$@" 2>/dev/null | tail -1 | cut -f 1)
 
 export PROGRESS_TYPE=gui
 
diff --git a/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.kde b/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.kde
index 74ebf7b..740cf8a 100755
--- a/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.kde
+++ b/qubes-rpc/qvm-copy-to-vm.kde
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 VM=$(kdialog -inputbox "Enter the VM name to send files to:")
 if [ X$VM = X ] ; then exit 0 ; fi
 
-SIZE=$(du --apparent-size -c "$@" | tail -1 | cut -f 1)
+SIZE=$(du --apparent-size -c -- "$@" 2> /dev/null | tail -1 | cut -f 1)
 REF=$(kdialog --progressbar "Copy progress")
 qdbus $REF org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set "" maximum $SIZE