diff --git a/bin/init-py-repo b/bin/init-py-repo
index d5467af..52969a4 100755
--- a/bin/init-py-repo
+++ b/bin/init-py-repo
@@ -1,27 +1,27 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 TEMPLATE_DIR="swh-py-template"
 
 usage () {
    echo "Usage: init-py-repo REPO_NAME"
    echo
    echo "Note: the repo should have already been created on the forge."
    echo "and cloned to the local directory REPO_NAME."
    exit 1
 }
 
 if [ -z "$1" -o ! -d "$1" ] ; then
     usage
 fi
 repo_dir="$1"
 shift 1
 
 if ! [ -d "$TEMPLATE_DIR" ] ; then
     echo "can't find template directory: $TEMPLATE_DIR. Abort"
     exit 2
 fi
 
-rsync -rv --exclude='**/.git/**' "$TEMPLATE_DIR/" "$repo_dir/"
+rsync -rv --links --exclude='**/.git/**' "$TEMPLATE_DIR/" "$repo_dir/"
 cd "$repo_dir"
 git add .
 git commit -m "import template from $TEMPLATE_DIR (init-py-repo)"