diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/xmonad/wrapper.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/xmonad/wrapper.nix
index 7804137d7cf4..6f3d463adb28 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/xmonad/wrapper.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/xmonad/wrapper.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   buildCommand = ''
     mkdir -p $out/bin $out/share
-    cp -r ${xmonadEnv}/share/man $out/share/man
+    ln -s ${xmonadEnv}/share/man $out/share/man
     makeWrapper ${xmonadEnv}/bin/xmonad $out/bin/xmonad \
       --set NIX_GHC "${xmonadEnv}/bin/ghc" \
       --set XMONAD_XMESSAGE "${xmessage}/bin/xmessage"