diff --git a/doc/sed.1 b/doc/sed.1
index 42a0a28..bb235c8 100644
--- a/doc/sed.1
+++ b/doc/sed.1
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 .\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.28.
-.TH SED "1" "June 2009" "sed version 4.2.1" "User Commands"
+.TH SED "1" "February 2010" "sed version 4.2.1" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 sed \- stream editor for filtering and transforming text
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ follow symlinks when processing in place
 .IP
 edit files in place (makes backup if extension supplied)
 .HP
+\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-copy\fR
+.IP
+use copy instead of rename when shuffling files in \fB\-i\fR mode
+.HP
 \fB\-l\fR N, \fB\-\-line\-length\fR=\fIN\fR
 .IP
 specify the desired line-wrap length for the `l' command
diff --git a/sed/execute.c b/sed/execute.c
index af8c4d2..c05b418 100644
--- a/sed/execute.c
+++ b/sed/execute.c
@@ -822,11 +822,13 @@ closedown(input)
       if (strcmp(in_place_extension, "*") != 0)
         {
           char *backup_file_name = get_backup_file_name(target_name);
-	  ck_rename (target_name, backup_file_name, input->out_file_name);
+	  (copy_instead_of_rename?ck_fccopy:ck_rename)
+            (target_name, backup_file_name, input->out_file_name);
           free (backup_file_name);
 	}
 
-      ck_rename (input->out_file_name, target_name, input->out_file_name);
+      (copy_instead_of_rename?ck_fcmove:ck_rename)
+        (input->out_file_name, target_name, input->out_file_name);
       free (input->out_file_name);
     }
   else
diff --git a/sed/sed.c b/sed/sed.c
index 723958d..1fbb279 100644
--- a/sed/sed.c
+++ b/sed/sed.c
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ bool follow_symlinks = false;
 /* How do we edit files in-place? (we don't if NULL) */
 char *in_place_extension = NULL;
 
+/* Do we use copy or rename when in in-place edit mode? (boolean
+   value, non-zero for copy, zero for rename).*/
+int copy_instead_of_rename = 0;
+
 /* The mode to use to read files, either "rt" or "rb".  */
 char *read_mode = "rt";
 
@@ -135,6 +139,8 @@ Usage: %s [OPTION]... {script-only-if-no-other-script} [input-file]...\n\
 #endif
   fprintf(out, _("  -i[SUFFIX], --in-place[=SUFFIX]\n\
                  edit files in place (makes backup if extension supplied)\n"));
+  fprintf(out, _("  -c, --copy\n\
+                 use copy instead of rename when shuffling files in -i mode\n"));
 #if defined(WIN32) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__) || defined(MSDOS) || defined(__EMX__)
   fprintf(out, _("  -b, --binary\n\
                  open files in binary mode (CR+LFs are not processed specially)\n"));
@@ -174,9 +180,9 @@ main(argc, argv)
   char **argv;
 {
 #ifdef REG_PERL
-#define SHORTOPTS "bsnrRuEe:f:l:i::V:"
+#define SHORTOPTS "bcsnrRuEe:f:l:i::V:"
 #else
-#define SHORTOPTS "bsnruEe:f:l:i::V:"
+#define SHORTOPTS "bcsnruEe:f:l:i::V:"
 #endif
 
   static struct option longopts[] = {
@@ -188,6 +194,7 @@ main(argc, argv)
     {"expression", 1, NULL, 'e'},
     {"file", 1, NULL, 'f'},
     {"in-place", 2, NULL, 'i'},
+    {"copy", 0, NULL, 'c'},
     {"line-length", 1, NULL, 'l'},
     {"quiet", 0, NULL, 'n'},
     {"posix", 0, NULL, 'p'},
@@ -254,6 +261,10 @@ main(argc, argv)
 
 	case 'F':
 	  follow_symlinks = true;
+ 	  break;
+
+	case 'c':
+	  copy_instead_of_rename = true;
 	  break;
 
 	case 'i':
@@ -334,6 +345,12 @@ to the extent permitted by law.\n\
 	}
     }
 
+  if (copy_instead_of_rename && in_place_extension == NULL)
+    {
+      fprintf (stderr, _("Error: -c used without -i.\n"));
+      usage(4);
+    }
+
   if (!the_program)
     {
       if (optind < argc)
diff --git a/sed/sed.h b/sed/sed.h
index 6b4101d..d4d9aa9 100644
--- a/sed/sed.h
+++ b/sed/sed.h
@@ -233,6 +233,10 @@ extern countT lcmd_out_line_len;
 /* How do we edit files in-place? (we don't if NULL) */
 extern char *in_place_extension;
 
+/* Do we use copy or rename when in in-place edit mode? (boolean
+   value, non-zero for copy, zero for rename).*/
+extern int copy_instead_of_rename;
+
 /* The mode to use to read files, either "rt" or "rb".  */
 extern char *read_mode;
 
diff --git a/sed/utils.c b/sed/utils.c
index 241ef1d..ebe6030 100644
--- a/sed/utils.c
+++ b/sed/utils.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <limits.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "pathmax.h"
@@ -408,33 +409,109 @@ follow_symlink(const char *fname)
   return fname;
 #endif /* ENABLE_FOLLOW_SYMLINKS */
 }
+
 
-/* Panic on failing rename */
+/* Panic on failing unlink */
 void
-ck_rename (from, to, unlink_if_fail)
-  const char *from, *to;
-  const char *unlink_if_fail;
+ck_unlink (name)
+  const char *name;
 {
-  int rd = rename (from, to);
-  if (rd != -1)
-    return;
+  if (unlink (name) == -1)
+    panic (_("cannot remove %s: %s"), name, strerror (errno));
+}
 
-  if (unlink_if_fail)
+/* Attempt to unlink denoted file if operation rd failed. */
+static int
+_unlink_if_fail (rd, unlink_if_fail)
+  int rd;
+  const char *unlink_if_fail;
+{
+  if (rd == -1 && unlink_if_fail)
     {
       int save_errno = errno;
+      ck_unlink (unlink_if_fail);
+      errno = save_errno;
+    }
+
+  return rd != -1;
+}
+
+/* Copy contents between files. */
+static int
+_copy (from, to)
+  const char *from, *to;
+{
+  static char buf[4096];
+
+  FILE *infile, *outfile;
+  int c, retval = 0;
       errno = 0;
-      unlink (unlink_if_fail);
 
-      /* Failure to remove the temporary file is more severe, so trigger it first.  */
-      if (errno != 0)
-        panic (_("cannot remove %s: %s"), unlink_if_fail, strerror (errno));
+  infile = fopen (from, "r");
+  if (infile == NULL)
+    return -1;
 
-      errno = save_errno;
+  outfile = fopen (to, "w");
+  if (outfile == NULL)
+    {
+      fclose (infile);
+      return -1;
+    }
+
+  while (1)
+    {
+      size_t bytes_in = fread (buf, 1, sizeof (buf), infile);
+      size_t bytes_out;
+      if (bytes_in == 0)
+	{
+	  if (ferror (infile))
+	    retval = -1;
+	  break;
+	}
+
+      bytes_out = fwrite (buf, 1, bytes_in, outfile);
+      if (bytes_out != bytes_in)
+	{
+	  retval = -1;
+	  break;
+	}
     }
 
+  fclose (outfile);
+  fclose (infile);
+
+  return retval;
+}
+
+/* Panic on failing rename */
+void
+ck_rename (from, to, unlink_if_fail)
+  const char *from, *to;
+  const char *unlink_if_fail;
+{
+  if (!_unlink_if_fail (rename (from, to), unlink_if_fail))
   panic (_("cannot rename %s: %s"), from, strerror (errno));
 }
 
+/* Attempt to copy file contents between the files. */
+void
+ck_fccopy (from, to, unlink_if_fail)
+  const char *from, *to;
+  const char *unlink_if_fail;
+{
+  if (!_unlink_if_fail (_copy (from, to), unlink_if_fail))
+    panic (_("cannot copy %s to %s: %s"), from, to, strerror (errno));
+}
+
+/* Copy contents between files, and then unlink the source. */
+void
+ck_fcmove (from, to, unlink_if_fail)
+  const char *from, *to;
+  const char *unlink_if_fail;
+{
+  ck_fccopy (from, to, unlink_if_fail);
+  ck_unlink (from);
+}
 
 
 
diff --git a/sed/utils.h b/sed/utils.h
index d3f431d..b915596 100644
--- a/sed/utils.h
+++ b/sed/utils.h
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ const char *follow_symlink P_((const char *path));
 size_t ck_getline P_((char **text, size_t *buflen, FILE *stream));
 FILE * ck_mkstemp P_((char **p_filename, char *tmpdir, char *base));
 void ck_rename P_((const char *from, const char *to, const char *unlink_if_fail));
+void ck_fccopy P_((const char *from, const char *to, const char *unlink_if_fail));
+void ck_fcmove P_((const char *from, const char *to, const char *unlink_if_fail));
 
 VOID *ck_malloc P_((size_t size));
 VOID *xmalloc P_((size_t size));