diff --git a/pkgs/io/CHANGELOG.md b/pkgs/io/CHANGELOG.md
index f5e99881c..8c0057f2b 100644
--- a/pkgs/io/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/pkgs/io/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## 1.1.0-wip
 
-* Add a `followLinks` argument to `copyPath` and `copyPathSync`.
+* Add a `deepCopyLinks` argument to `copyPath` and `copyPathSync`.
 
 ## 1.0.5
 
diff --git a/pkgs/io/lib/src/copy_path.dart b/pkgs/io/lib/src/copy_path.dart
index ce1fd5a7c..8a1c3ca46 100644
--- a/pkgs/io/lib/src/copy_path.dart
+++ b/pkgs/io/lib/src/copy_path.dart
@@ -19,21 +19,23 @@ bool _doNothing(String from, String to) {
 /// Copies all of the files in the [from] directory to [to].
 ///
 /// This is similar to `cp -R <from> <to>`:
-/// * Symlinks are supported.
 /// * Existing files are over-written, if any.
 /// * If [to] is within [from], throws [ArgumentError] (an infinite operation).
 /// * If [from] and [to] are canonically the same, no operation occurs.
-/// * If [followLinks] is `true`, then working links are reported as
-///   directories or files, and links to directories are recursed into.
+/// * If [deepCopyLinks] is `true` (the default) then links are followed and
+///   the content of linked directories and files are copied entirely. If
+///   `false` then new [Link] file system entities are created linking to the
+///   same target the links under [from].
 ///
 /// Returns a future that completes when complete.
-Future<void> copyPath(String from, String to, {bool followLinks = true}) async {
+Future<void> copyPath(String from, String to,
+    {bool deepCopyLinks = true}) async {
   if (_doNothing(from, to)) {
     return;
   }
   await Directory(to).create(recursive: true);
   await for (final file
-      in Directory(from).list(recursive: true, followLinks: followLinks)) {
+      in Directory(from).list(recursive: true, followLinks: deepCopyLinks)) {
     final copyTo = p.join(to, p.relative(file.path, from: from));
     if (file is Directory) {
       await Directory(copyTo).create(recursive: true);
@@ -48,21 +50,22 @@ Future<void> copyPath(String from, String to, {bool followLinks = true}) async {
 /// Copies all of the files in the [from] directory to [to].
 ///
 /// This is similar to `cp -R <from> <to>`:
-/// * Symlinks are supported.
 /// * Existing files are over-written, if any.
 /// * If [to] is within [from], throws [ArgumentError] (an infinite operation).
 /// * If [from] and [to] are canonically the same, no operation occurs.
-/// * If [followLinks] is `true`, then working links are reported as
-///   directories or files, and links to directories are recursed into.
+/// * If [deepCopyLinks] is `true` (the default) then links are followed and
+///   the content of linked directories and files are copied entirely. If
+///   `false` then new [Link] file system entities are created linking to the
+///   same target the links under [from].
 ///
 /// This action is performed synchronously (blocking I/O).
-void copyPathSync(String from, String to, {bool followLinks = true}) {
+void copyPathSync(String from, String to, {bool deepCopyLinks = true}) {
   if (_doNothing(from, to)) {
     return;
   }
   Directory(to).createSync(recursive: true);
-  for (final file
-      in Directory(from).listSync(recursive: true, followLinks: followLinks)) {
+  for (final file in Directory(from)
+      .listSync(recursive: true, followLinks: deepCopyLinks)) {
     final copyTo = p.join(to, p.relative(file.path, from: from));
     if (file is Directory) {
       Directory(copyTo).createSync(recursive: true);
diff --git a/pkgs/io/test/copy_path_test.dart b/pkgs/io/test/copy_path_test.dart
index f34519956..af3cb36a0 100644
--- a/pkgs/io/test/copy_path_test.dart
+++ b/pkgs/io/test/copy_path_test.dart
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ void main() {
 
     test('are shallow copied with deepCopyLinks: false in copyPath', () async {
       await copyPath(
-          followLinks: false,
+          deepCopyLinks: false,
           p.join(d.sandbox, _parentDir),
           p.join(d.sandbox, _copyDir));
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ void main() {
     test('are shallow copied with deepCopyLinks: false in copyPathAsync',
         () async {
       copyPathSync(
-          followLinks: false,
+          deepCopyLinks: false,
           p.join(d.sandbox, _parentDir),
           p.join(d.sandbox, _copyDir));