diff --git a/gnulib-tool b/gnulib-tool
index c5b993a..63c762e 100755
--- a/gnulib-tool
+++ b/gnulib-tool
@@ -6087,6 +6087,7 @@ func_create_testdir ()
         if func_should_symlink; then
           func_ln "$lookedup_file" "$testdir/$g"
         else
+          ln "$lookedup_file" "$testdir/$g" 2>/dev/null ||
           cp -p "$lookedup_file" "$testdir/$g"
         fi
       fi