diff --git a/src/ios/CDVLocalFilesystem.m b/src/ios/CDVLocalFilesystem.m
index c340ce0cc..3436af686 100644
--- a/src/ios/CDVLocalFilesystem.m
+++ b/src/ios/CDVLocalFilesystem.m
@@ -551,8 +551,13 @@ - (void)copyFileToURL:(CDVFilesystemURL *)destURL withName:(NSString *)newName f
                     // can't copy dir into self
                     errCode = INVALID_MODIFICATION_ERR;
                 } else if (bNewExists) {
-                    // the full destination should NOT already exist if a copy
-                    errCode = PATH_EXISTS_ERR;
+                    // first try to remove the existing file
+                    bSuccess = [fileMgr removeItemAtPath:newFileSystemPath error:&error];
+
+                    if (bSuccess) {
+                        // then copy the new one
+                        bSuccess = [fileMgr copyItemAtPath:srcFullPath toPath:newFileSystemPath error:&error];
+                    }
                 } else {
                     bSuccess = [fileMgr copyItemAtPath:srcFullPath toPath:newFileSystemPath error:&error];
                 }