diff --git a/test/new b/test/new
index 0afb04c..0627d69 100755
--- a/test/new
+++ b/test/new
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ test_begin_subtest 'Repeatability when copying a whole directory into a new one'
 add_email_corpus
 
 mkdir "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd
-cp -a "$MAIL_DIR"/cur "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd/
+cp "$MAIL_DIR"/cur "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd/
 output1=$(notmuch new)
 
 rm -rf "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ notmuch new > /dev/null
 
 # This was quite enjoyable.  Let's do it again.
 mkdir "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd
-cp -a "$MAIL_DIR"/cur "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd/
+cp "$MAIL_DIR"/cur "$MAIL_DIR"/2nd/
 output2=$(notmuch new)
 
 test_subtest_known_broken