diff --git a/pyon/util/containers.py b/pyon/util/containers.py
index 75c5bba1..a788d30c 100644
--- a/pyon/util/containers.py
+++ b/pyon/util/containers.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import base64
 import uuid
 import os
+from copy import deepcopy
 
 class DotNotationGetItem(object):
     """ Drive the behavior for DotList and DotDict lookups by dot notation, JSON-style. """
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ def __setattr__(self,key,value):
             self[key] = value
 
     def copy(self):
-        return DotDict(dict.copy(self))
+        return deepcopy(self)
 
     def get_safe(self, qual_key, default=None):
         """