diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c82199f..1911c72 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ findlib.conf: findlib.conf.in
 .PHONY: install-doc
 install-doc:
 	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man1" "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man3" "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man5"
-	-$(INSTALLFILE) doc/ref-man/ocamlfind.1 "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man1"
-	-$(INSTALLFILE) doc/ref-man/META.5 doc/ref-man/site-lib.5 doc/ref-man/findlib.conf.5 "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man5"
+	-$(CP) doc/ref-man/ocamlfind.1 "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man1"
+	-$(CP) doc/ref-man/META.5 doc/ref-man/site-lib.5 doc/ref-man/findlib.conf.5 "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_MAN)/man5"
 
 .PHONY: uninstall-doc
 uninstall-doc:
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ check-installation:
 
 .PHONY: install-meta
 install-meta:
-	for x in $(SITELIB_META); do $(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x"; $(INSTALLFILE) site-lib-src/$$x/META "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x/META.tmp" && mv "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x/META.tmp" "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x/META"; done
-	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/findlib"; $(INSTALLFILE) Makefile.packages "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/findlib/Makefile.packages"
+	for x in $(SITELIB_META); do $(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x"; $(CP) site-lib-src/$$x/META "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x/META.tmp" && mv "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x/META.tmp" "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$$x/META"; done
+	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/findlib"; $(CP) Makefile.packages "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/findlib/Makefile.packages"
 
 .PHONY: uninstall-meta
 uninstall-meta:
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ uninstall-meta:
 install-config:
 	$(INSTALLDIR) "`dirname \"$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF)\"`"
 	@if [ -f "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF)" ]; then echo "!!! Keeping old $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF) !!!"; fi
-	test -f "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF)" || $(INSTALLFILE) findlib.conf "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF)"
+	test -f "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF)" || $(CP) findlib.conf "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_CONF)"
 
 .PHONY: uninstall-config
 uninstall-config:
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 0dd6e6e..a1ca170 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -782,6 +782,7 @@ fi
     echo "OPAQUE=${opaque}"
     echo "OCAMLOPT_G=${native_debugging_info}"
     echo "CHECK_BEFORE_INSTALL=${check_before_install}"
+    echo "CP = cp"
     echo "INSTALLDIR = install -d"
     echo "# change to INSTALLDIR = mkdir -p   when BSD install is unavavailable"
     echo "INSTALLFILE = install -c"
diff --git a/src/bytes/Makefile b/src/bytes/Makefile
index bfbbe27..5bcd091 100644
--- a/src/bytes/Makefile
+++ b/src/bytes/Makefile
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ opt:
 
 install: all
 	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/bytes"
-	$(INSTALLFILE) META $(BYTE_FILES) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/bytes/"
-	for f in $(NATIVE_FILES) $(NATIVE_FILES_DYNLINK); do if [ -f "$$f" ]; then $(INSTALLFILE) $$f "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/bytes/"; fi; done
+	$(CP) META $(BYTE_FILES) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/bytes/"
+	for f in $(NATIVE_FILES) $(NATIVE_FILES_DYNLINK); do if [ -f "$$f" ]; then $(CP) $$f "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/bytes/"; fi; done
 
 uninstall: 
 	rm -rf "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/bytes"
diff --git a/src/findlib/Makefile b/src/findlib/Makefile
index 9b914a0..b2317c1 100644
--- a/src/findlib/Makefile
+++ b/src/findlib/Makefile
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ install: all
 	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$(NAME)"
 	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_BIN)"
 	test $(INSTALL_TOPFIND) -eq 0 || $(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_CORE_STDLIB)"
-	test $(INSTALL_TOPFIND) -eq 0 || $(INSTALLFILE) topfind "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_CORE_STDLIB)/"
+	test $(INSTALL_TOPFIND) -eq 0 || $(CP) topfind "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_CORE_STDLIB)/"
 	files=`$(SH) $(TOP)/tools/collect_files $(TOP)/Makefile.config \
 	findlib.cmi findlib.mli findlib.cma findlib.cmxa findlib$(LIB_SUFFIX) findlib.cmxs \
 	findlib_config.cmi findlib_config.ml topfind.cmi topfind.mli \
@@ -144,18 +144,18 @@ install: all
 	fl_metatoken.cmi findlib_top.cma findlib_top.cmxa findlib_top$(LIB_SUFFIX) findlib_top.cmxs \
 	findlib_dynload.cma findlib_dynload.cmxa findlib_dynload$(LIB_SUFFIX) findlib_dynload.cmxs fl_dynload.mli fl_dynload.cmi \
 	META` && \
-	$(INSTALLFILE) $$files "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$(NAME)/"
+	$(CP) $$files "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$(NAME)/"
 	f="ocamlfind$(EXEC_SUFFIX)"; { test -f ocamlfind_opt$(EXEC_SUFFIX) && f="ocamlfind_opt$(EXEC_SUFFIX)"; }; \
 	$(INSTALLFILE) $$f "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAMLFIND_BIN)/ocamlfind$(EXEC_SUFFIX)"
 	# the following "if" block is only needed for 4.00beta2
 	if [ $(OCAML_REMOVE_DIRECTORY) -eq 0 -a -f "$(OCAML_CORE_STDLIB)/compiler-libs/topdirs.cmi" ]; then \
 	    cd "$(OCAML_CORE_STDLIB)/compiler-libs/"; \
-	    $(INSTALLFILE) topdirs.cmi toploop.cmi "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$(NAME)/"; \
+	    $(CP) topdirs.cmi toploop.cmi "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/$(NAME)/"; \
 	fi
 
 install-num-top:
 	$(INSTALLDIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/num-top"
-	$(INSTALLFILE) num_top.cma num_top.cmi num_top_printers.cmi \
+	$(CP) num_top.cma num_top.cmi num_top_printers.cmi \
 		"$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)$(OCAML_SITELIB)/num-top/"
 
 # Note: uninstall-num-top is part of the removal of the META files.