diff --git a/src/uu/chmod/src/chmod.rs b/src/uu/chmod/src/chmod.rs
index d4b81ee37d9..abde1bf7b2d 100644
--- a/src/uu/chmod/src/chmod.rs
+++ b/src/uu/chmod/src/chmod.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use std::path::Path;
 use uucore::display::Quotable;
 use uucore::error::{ExitCode, UResult, USimpleError, UUsageError};
 use uucore::fs::display_permissions_unix;
+use uucore::fs::is_symlink;
 use uucore::libc::mode_t;
 #[cfg(not(windows))]
 use uucore::mode;
@@ -380,10 +381,3 @@ impl Chmoder {
         }
     }
 }
-
-pub fn is_symlink<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> bool {
-    match fs::symlink_metadata(path) {
-        Ok(m) => m.file_type().is_symlink(),
-        Err(_) => false,
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs b/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs
index 91cbc635ff5..9daf35efd94 100644
--- a/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs
+++ b/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::string::ToString;
 use uucore::backup_control::{self, BackupMode};
 use uucore::error::{set_exit_code, ExitCode, UClapError, UError, UResult};
-use uucore::fs::{canonicalize, MissingHandling, ResolveMode};
+use uucore::fs::{canonicalize, is_symlink, MissingHandling, ResolveMode};
 use walkdir::WalkDir;
 
 quick_error! {
@@ -999,9 +999,7 @@ fn copy_directory(
     }
 
     // if no-dereference is enabled and this is a symlink, copy it as a file
-    if !options.dereference && fs::symlink_metadata(root).unwrap().file_type().is_symlink()
-    // replace by is_symlink in rust>=1.58
-    {
+    if !options.dereference && is_symlink(root) {
         return copy_file(root, target, options, symlinked_files);
     }
 
@@ -1044,8 +1042,6 @@ fn copy_directory(
         .follow_links(options.dereference)
     {
         let p = or_continue!(path);
-        let is_symlink = fs::symlink_metadata(p.path())?.file_type().is_symlink();
-        // replace by is_symlink in rust >=1.58
         let path = current_dir.join(&p.path());
 
         let local_to_root_parent = match root_parent {
@@ -1069,7 +1065,7 @@ fn copy_directory(
         };
 
         let local_to_target = target.join(&local_to_root_parent);
-        if is_symlink && !options.dereference {
+        if is_symlink(p.path()) && !options.dereference {
             copy_link(&path, &local_to_target, symlinked_files)?;
         } else if path.is_dir() && !local_to_target.exists() {
             if target.is_file() {
@@ -1091,7 +1087,7 @@ fn copy_directory(
                     ) {
                         Ok(_) => Ok(()),
                         Err(err) => {
-                            if fs::symlink_metadata(&source)?.file_type().is_symlink() {
+                            if is_symlink(source) {
                                 // silent the error with a symlink
                                 // In case we do --archive, we might copy the symlink
                                 // before the file itself
@@ -1306,10 +1302,7 @@ fn copy_file(
     }
 
     // Fail if dest is a dangling symlink or a symlink this program created previously
-    if fs::symlink_metadata(dest)
-        .map(|m| m.file_type().is_symlink()) // replace by is_symlink in rust>=1.58
-        .unwrap_or(false)
-    {
+    if is_symlink(dest) {
         if FileInformation::from_path(dest, false)
             .map(|info| symlinked_files.contains(&info))
             .unwrap_or(false)
@@ -1351,9 +1344,7 @@ fn copy_file(
     #[cfg(not(unix))]
     let source_is_fifo = false;
 
-    let dest_already_exists_as_symlink = fs::symlink_metadata(&dest)
-        .map(|meta| meta.file_type().is_symlink())
-        .unwrap_or(false);
+    let dest_already_exists_as_symlink = is_symlink(dest);
 
     let dest = if !(source_is_symlink && dest_already_exists_as_symlink) {
         canonicalize(dest, MissingHandling::Missing, ResolveMode::Physical).unwrap()
@@ -1457,10 +1448,7 @@ fn copy_file(
     };
 
     // TODO: implement something similar to gnu's lchown
-    if fs::symlink_metadata(&dest)
-        .map(|meta| !meta.file_type().is_symlink())
-        .unwrap_or(false)
-    {
+    if !is_symlink(&dest) {
         // Here, to match GNU semantics, we quietly ignore an error
         // if a user does not have the correct ownership to modify
         // the permissions of a file.
diff --git a/src/uu/ln/src/ln.rs b/src/uu/ln/src/ln.rs
index 5d7639d619e..ac128011789 100644
--- a/src/uu/ln/src/ln.rs
+++ b/src/uu/ln/src/ln.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ use clap::{crate_version, Arg, Command};
 use uucore::display::Quotable;
 use uucore::error::{UError, UResult};
 use uucore::format_usage;
+use uucore::fs::is_symlink;
 
 use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::error::Error;
@@ -533,10 +534,3 @@ pub fn symlink<P1: AsRef<Path>, P2: AsRef<Path>>(src: P1, dst: P2) -> Result<()>
         symlink_file(src, dst)
     }
 }
-
-pub fn is_symlink<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> bool {
-    match fs::symlink_metadata(path) {
-        Ok(m) => m.file_type().is_symlink(),
-        Err(_) => false,
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/uu/rmdir/src/rmdir.rs b/src/uu/rmdir/src/rmdir.rs
index be4e537806d..4318f54298a 100644
--- a/src/uu/rmdir/src/rmdir.rs
+++ b/src/uu/rmdir/src/rmdir.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ use std::io;
 use std::path::Path;
 use uucore::display::Quotable;
 use uucore::error::{set_exit_code, strip_errno, UResult};
+
+#[cfg(unix)]
+use uucore::fs::is_symlink;
 use uucore::{format_usage, util_name};
 
 static ABOUT: &str = "Remove the DIRECTORY(ies), if they are empty.";
@@ -65,10 +68,6 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> UResult<()> {
                 use std::ffi::OsStr;
                 use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
 
-                fn is_symlink(path: &Path) -> io::Result<bool> {
-                    Ok(path.symlink_metadata()?.file_type().is_symlink())
-                }
-
                 fn points_to_directory(path: &Path) -> io::Result<bool> {
                     Ok(path.metadata()?.file_type().is_dir())
                 }
@@ -77,9 +76,7 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> UResult<()> {
                 if error.raw_os_error() == Some(libc::ENOTDIR) && bytes.ends_with(b"/") {
                     // Strip the trailing slash or .symlink_metadata() will follow the symlink
                     let no_slash: &Path = OsStr::from_bytes(&bytes[..bytes.len() - 1]).as_ref();
-                    if is_symlink(no_slash).unwrap_or(false)
-                        && points_to_directory(no_slash).unwrap_or(true)
-                    {
+                    if is_symlink(no_slash) && points_to_directory(no_slash).unwrap_or(true) {
                         show_error!(
                             "failed to remove {}: Symbolic link not followed",
                             path.quote()
diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/fs.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/fs.rs
index 3963d865c27..fe8726575db 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/fs.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/fs.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 //! Set of functions to manage files and symlinks
 
+// spell-checker:ignore backport
+
 #[cfg(unix)]
 use libc::{
     mode_t, S_IFBLK, S_IFCHR, S_IFDIR, S_IFIFO, S_IFLNK, S_IFMT, S_IFREG, S_IFSOCK, S_IRGRP,
@@ -221,6 +223,16 @@ pub fn normalize_path(path: &Path) -> PathBuf {
     ret
 }
 
+/// Decide whether the given path is a symbolic link.
+///
+/// This function is essentially a backport of the
+/// [`std::path::Path::is_symlink`] function that exists in Rust
+/// version 1.58 and greater. This can be removed when the minimum
+/// supported version of Rust is 1.58.
+pub fn is_symlink<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> bool {
+    fs::symlink_metadata(path).map_or(false, |m| m.file_type().is_symlink())
+}
+
 fn resolve<P: AsRef<Path>>(original: P) -> Result<PathBuf, (bool, PathBuf, IOError)> {
     const MAX_LINKS_FOLLOWED: u32 = 255;
     let mut followed = 0;
diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/perms.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/perms.rs
index 4574ba96c98..1d2fe04cfa7 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/perms.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/perms.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use crate::error::strip_errno;
 use crate::error::UResult;
 use crate::error::USimpleError;
 pub use crate::features::entries;
-use crate::fs::resolve_relative_path;
+use crate::fs::{is_symlink, resolve_relative_path};
 use crate::show_error;
 use clap::Arg;
 use clap::ArgMatches;
@@ -274,12 +274,7 @@ impl ChownExecutor {
         let root = root.as_ref();
 
         // walkdir always dereferences the root directory, so we have to check it ourselves
-        // TODO: replace with `root.is_symlink()` once it is stable
-        if self.traverse_symlinks == TraverseSymlinks::None
-            && std::fs::symlink_metadata(root)
-                .map(|m| m.file_type().is_symlink())
-                .unwrap_or(false)
-        {
+        if self.traverse_symlinks == TraverseSymlinks::None && is_symlink(root) {
             return 0;
         }