diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/SymlinkTreeHelper.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/SymlinkTreeHelper.java
index 379f41f28170c1..c95e51bf596ea8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/SymlinkTreeHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/SymlinkTreeHelper.java
@@ -138,12 +138,13 @@ public void createSymlinks(
 
   /** Copies the input manifest to the output manifest. */
   public void copyManifest() throws ExecException {
-    // Pretend we created the runfiles tree by copying the manifest
+    // Pretend we created the runfiles tree by symlinking the output manifest to the input manifest.
+    Path outputManifest = getOutputManifest();
     try {
       symlinkTreeRoot.createDirectoryAndParents();
-      FileSystemUtils.copyFile(inputManifest, getOutputManifest());
+      outputManifest.createSymbolicLink(inputManifest);
     } catch (IOException e) {
-      throw new EnvironmentalExecException(e, Code.SYMLINK_TREE_MANIFEST_COPY_IO_EXCEPTION);
+      throw new EnvironmentalExecException(e, Code.SYMLINK_TREE_MANIFEST_LINK_IO_EXCEPTION);
     }
   }