diff --git a/kittens/ssh/copy.py b/kittens/ssh/copy.py
index 7048af3cc..b861b914b 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/copy.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/copy.py
@@ -5,13 +5,15 @@
 import glob
 import os
 import shlex
+import uuid
 from typing import (
-    Iterable, Iterator, List, NamedTuple, Optional, Sequence, Tuple
+    Dict, Iterable, Iterator, List, NamedTuple, Optional, Sequence, Tuple
 )
 
 from kitty.cli import parse_args
 from kitty.cli_stub import CopyCLIOptions
 from kitty.types import run_once
+
 from ..transfer.utils import expand_home, home_path
 
 
@@ -81,11 +83,12 @@ def get_arcname(loc: str, dest: Optional[str], home: str) -> str:
 
 
 class CopyInstruction(NamedTuple):
+    local_path: str
     arcname: str
     exclude_patterns: Tuple[str, ...]
 
 
-def parse_copy_instructions(val: str) -> Iterable[Tuple[str, CopyInstruction]]:
+def parse_copy_instructions(val: str, current_val: Dict[str, str]) -> Iterable[Tuple[str, CopyInstruction]]:
     opts, args = parse_copy_args(shlex.split(val))
     locations: List[str] = []
     for a in args:
@@ -97,4 +100,4 @@ def parse_copy_instructions(val: str) -> Iterable[Tuple[str, CopyInstruction]]:
     home = home_path()
     for loc in locations:
         arcname = get_arcname(loc, opts.dest, home)
-        yield loc, CopyInstruction(arcname, tuple(opts.exclude))
+        yield str(uuid.uuid4()), CopyInstruction(loc, arcname, tuple(opts.exclude))
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/main.py b/kittens/ssh/main.py
index 9f5873c4d..6e8cc2a65 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/main.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/main.py
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ def make_tarfile(ssh_opts: SSHOptions, base_env: Dict[str, str]) -> bytes:
     buf = io.BytesIO()
     with tarfile.open(mode='w:bz2', fileobj=buf, encoding='utf-8') as tf:
         rd = ssh_opts.remote_dir.rstrip('/')
-        for location, ci in ssh_opts.copy.items():
-            tf.add(location, arcname=ci.arcname, filter=filter_from_globs(*ci.exclude_patterns))
+        for ci in ssh_opts.copy.values():
+            tf.add(ci.local_path, arcname=ci.arcname, filter=filter_from_globs(*ci.exclude_patterns))
         add_data_as_file(tf, 'data.sh', env_script)
         if ksi:
             arcname = 'home/' + rd + '/shell-integration'
diff --git a/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py b/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py
index 616eabfc2..cc90f4ef7 100644
--- a/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py
+++ b/kittens/ssh/options/utils.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def env(val: str, current_val: Dict[str, str]) -> Iterable[Tuple[str, str]]:
 
 
 def copy(val: str, current_val: Dict[str, str]) -> Iterable[Tuple[str, CopyInstruction]]:
-    yield from parse_copy_instructions(val)
+    yield from parse_copy_instructions(val, current_val)
 
 
 def init_results_dict(ans: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
diff --git a/kitty_tests/ssh.py b/kitty_tests/ssh.py
index c265ea2f3..38394b3f2 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/ssh.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/ssh.py
@@ -88,12 +88,14 @@ print(' '.join(map(str, buf)))'''), lines=13, cols=77)
                 tuple(map(touch, 'simple-file g.1 g.2'.split()))
                 os.makedirs(f'{local_home}/d1/d2/d3')
                 touch('d1/d2/x')
+                touch('d1/d2/w.exclude')
                 os.symlink('d2/x', f'{local_home}/d1/y')
 
                 conf = '''\
 copy simple-file
+copy --dest=a/sfa simple-file
 copy --glob g.*
-copy d1
+copy --exclude */w.* d1
 '''
                 copy = load_config(overrides=filter(None, conf.splitlines()))['*'].copy
                 self.check_bootstrap(
@@ -103,8 +105,9 @@ copy d1
                 self.assertTrue(os.path.lexists(f'{remote_home}/.terminfo/78'))
                 self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(f'{remote_home}/.terminfo/78/xterm-kitty'))
                 self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(f'{remote_home}/.terminfo/x/xterm-kitty'))
-                with open(os.path.join(remote_home, 'simple-file'), 'r') as f:
-                    self.ae(f.read(), simple_data)
+                for w in ('simple-file', 'a/sfa'):
+                    with open(os.path.join(remote_home, w), 'r') as f:
+                        self.ae(f.read(), simple_data)
                 self.assertTrue(os.path.lexists(f'{remote_home}/d1/y'))
                 self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(f'{remote_home}/d1/y'))
                 self.ae(os.readlink(f'{remote_home}/d1/y'), 'd2/x')
@@ -112,6 +115,7 @@ copy d1
                 contents.discard('.zshrc')  # added by check_bootstrap()
                 self.ae(contents, {
                     'g.1', 'g.2', '.terminfo/kitty.terminfo', 'simple-file', '.terminfo/x/xterm-kitty', 'd1/d2/x', 'd1/y',
+                    'a/sfa'
                 })
 
     def test_ssh_env_vars(self):