diff -r c00ac2b25048 Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
--- a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst	Tue Mar 13 11:31:36 2012 -0700
+++ b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst	Tue Mar 13 14:32:03 2012 -0700
@@ -978,13 +978,17 @@
    Copy an entire directory tree *src* to a new location *dst*.  Both *src* and
    *dst* must be directory names.  If *src* is not a directory, raise
    :exc:`DistutilsFileError`.  If *dst* does  not exist, it is created with
-   :func:`mkpath`.  The end result of the  copy is that every file in *src* is
+   :func:`mkpath`.  Files in *src* that begin with '.nfs' are skipped.  More
+   information on these NFS 'silly rename' files are available in answer 'D2'
+   on the `NFS FAQ page <http://nfs.sourceforge.net/#section_d>`_.
+   The end result of the  copy is that every file in *src* is
    copied to *dst*, and  directories under *src* are recursively copied to *dst*.
    Return the list of files that were copied or might have been copied, using their
    output name. The return value is unaffected by *update* or *dry_run*: it is
    simply the list of all files under *src*, with the names changed to be under
    *dst*.
 
+
    *preserve_mode* and *preserve_times* are the same as for :func:`copy_file` in
    :mod:`distutils.file_util`; note that they only apply to regular files, not to
    directories.  If *preserve_symlinks* is true, symlinks will be copied as
diff -r c00ac2b25048 Lib/distutils/dir_util.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py	Tue Mar 13 11:31:36 2012 -0700
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dir_util.py	Tue Mar 13 14:32:03 2012 -0700
@@ -141,7 +141,9 @@
         src_name = os.path.join(src, n)
         dst_name = os.path.join(dst, n)
 
-        if preserve_symlinks and os.path.islink(src_name):
+        if n.startswith('.nfs'):
+            pass
+        elif preserve_symlinks and os.path.islink(src_name):
             link_dest = os.readlink(src_name)
             if verbose >= 1:
                 log.info("linking %s -> %s", dst_name, link_dest)
diff -r c00ac2b25048 Lib/distutils/tests/test_dir_util.py
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_dir_util.py	Tue Mar 13 11:31:36 2012 -0700
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_dir_util.py	Tue Mar 13 14:32:03 2012 -0700
@@ -101,6 +101,30 @@
         remove_tree(self.root_target, verbose=0)
         remove_tree(self.target2, verbose=0)
 
+    def test_copy_tree_skips_nfs_temp_files(self):
+        # this test creates an NFS 'silly rename' file
+        # then runs copy_tree to make sure the file is
+        # skipped.  More info on NFS 'silly rename' files
+        # are available in answer 'D2' on the NFS FAQ here:
+        # http://nfs.sourceforge.net/#section_d
+
+        mkpath(self.target, verbose=0)
+
+        a_file = os.path.join(self.target, 'ok.txt')
+        nfs_file = os.path.join(self.target, '.nfs123abc')
+        for f in a_file, nfs_file:
+            fh = open(f, 'w')
+            try:
+                fh.write('some content')
+            finally:
+                fh.close()
+
+        copy_tree(self.target, self.target2)
+        self.assertEqual(len(os.listdir(self.target2)), 1, '.nfs123abc file was *not* skipped!')
+
+        remove_tree(self.root_target, verbose=0)
+        remove_tree(self.target2, verbose=0)
+
     def test_ensure_relative(self):
         if os.sep == '/':
             self.assertEqual(ensure_relative('/home/foo'), 'home/foo')