diff --git a/easybuild/tools/filetools.py b/easybuild/tools/filetools.py
index aeb49304e1..e8ec28d9bb 100644
--- a/easybuild/tools/filetools.py
+++ b/easybuild/tools/filetools.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 """
 import datetime
 import difflib
+import filecmp
 import glob
 import hashlib
 import inspect
@@ -2385,6 +2386,9 @@ def copy_file(path, target_path, force_in_dry_run=False):
             target_exists = os.path.exists(target_path)
             if target_exists and path_exists and os.path.samefile(path, target_path):
                 _log.debug("Not copying %s to %s since files are identical", path, target_path)
+            # Don't copy them if they are already considered the same
+            elif target_exists and path_exists and os.path.isfile(target_path) and filecmp.cmp(path, target_path):
+                _log.debug("Not copying %s to %s since file contents are identical", path, target_path)
             # if target file exists and is owned by someone else than the current user,
             # try using shutil.copyfile to just copy the file contents
             # since shutil.copy2 will fail when trying to copy over file metadata (since chown requires file ownership)
diff --git a/test/framework/filetools.py b/test/framework/filetools.py
index 99b9f35398..fd28f36544 100644
--- a/test/framework/filetools.py
+++ b/test/framework/filetools.py
@@ -1873,6 +1873,13 @@ def test_copy_file(self):
         self.assertExists(target_path)
         self.assertTrue(ft.read_file(toy_ec) == ft.read_file(target_path))
 
+        # Test that we don't copy the same file twice
+        # (use the metadata timestamp to verify)
+        ctime = os.path.getctime(target_path)
+        ft.copy_file(toy_ec, target_path)
+        new_ctime = os.path.getctime(target_path)
+        self.assertEqual(ctime, new_ctime)
+
         # Make sure it doesn't fail if path is a symlink and target_path is a dir
         toy_link_fn = 'toy-link-0.0.eb'
         toy_link = os.path.join(self.test_prefix, toy_link_fn)