diff --git a/compat-usrmerge.changes b/compat-usrmerge.changes
index 4572341..0c3647d 100644
--- a/compat-usrmerge.changes
+++ b/compat-usrmerge.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Thu Mar 18 12:24:15 UTC 2021 - Ludwig Nussel <lnussel@suse.de>
+
+- cp can't handle copying a dir over non-directories. So move those
+  away in advance. Happened with /lib/udev existing as link on older
+  distros
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Mon Mar 15 17:41:10 UTC 2021 - Ludwig Nussel <lnussel@suse.de>
 
diff --git a/convertfs b/convertfs
index 1cc7d2b..8126a2c 100644
--- a/convertfs
+++ b/convertfs
@@ -33,6 +33,17 @@ for dir in bin sbin lib lib64; do
     echo "Make a copy of \`$ROOT/$dir'."
     [[ -d "$ROOT/$dir" ]] \
         && cp -ax -l "$ROOT/$dir" "$ROOT/usr/${dir}.usrmerge"
+    # cp can't handle copying a dir over non-directories. So move
+    # those away in advance. Happened with /lib/udev existing as
+    # link on older distros
+    while read d; do
+	f="$ROOT/usr/$dir.usrmerge/$d"
+	if test -e "$f" -a \( -L "$f" -o ! -d "$f" \); then
+	    echo "Warning: /$dir/$d conflicts with directory /usr/$dir/$d and will be removed"
+	    rm -rf "$f.usrmerge~"
+	    mv "$f" "$f.usrmerge~"
+	fi
+    done < <(find "$ROOT/usr/$dir" -type d -printf "%P\n" )
     echo "Merge the copy with \`$ROOT/usr/$dir'."
     [[ -d "$ROOT/usr/${dir}.usrmerge" ]] \
         || mkdir -p "$ROOT/usr/${dir}.usrmerge"