diff --git a/pkgs/servers/x11/xquartz/system-fonts.nix b/pkgs/servers/x11/xquartz/system-fonts.nix
index db47f8afe015..13670978ec0b 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/x11/xquartz/system-fonts.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/x11/xquartz/system-fonts.nix
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     find $fontDirs -type f -o -type l | while read i; do
       j="''${i##*/}"
       if ! test -e "$out/share/X11-fonts/''${j}"; then
-        ln -s "$i" "$out/share/X11-fonts/''${j}";
+        cp "$i" "$out/share/X11-fonts/''${j}";
       fi;
     done;
     cd $out/share/X11-fonts/