diff --git a/Doc/library/shutil.rst b/Doc/library/shutil.rst
index 427a120159633d..e91c35a856bc71 100644
--- a/Doc/library/shutil.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/shutil.rst
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ Directory and files operations
 
 .. function:: copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None, \
               copy_function=copy2, ignore_dangling_symlinks=False, \
-              dirs_exist_ok=False)
+              dirs_exist_ok=False, use_srcentry=True)
 
    Recursively copy an entire directory tree rooted at *src* to a directory
    named *dst* and return the destination directory. *dirs_exist_ok* dictates
@@ -248,6 +248,9 @@ Directory and files operations
    each file. It will be called with the source path and the destination path
    as arguments. By default, :func:`shutil.copy2` is used, but any function
    that supports the same signature (like :func:`shutil.copy`) can be used.
+   If *use_srcentry* is true, the *copy_function* gets the srcentry, otherwise
+   it gets the srcname. The functions copy() and copy2() can handle the
+   srcentry.
 
    .. versionchanged:: 3.3
       Copy metadata when *symlinks* is false.
@@ -263,6 +266,8 @@ Directory and files operations
       Platform-specific fast-copy syscalls may be used internally in order to
       copy the file more efficiently. See
       :ref:`shutil-platform-dependent-efficient-copy-operations` section.
+      Added *use_srcentry* parameter to control if the srcentry or the srcname
+      is passed to the *copy_function*.
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.8
       The *dirs_exist_ok* parameter.
diff --git a/Lib/shutil.py b/Lib/shutil.py
index 8d0de72b44a3a4..f1de1535654dc6 100644
--- a/Lib/shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/shutil.py
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ def _ignore_patterns(path, names):
     return _ignore_patterns
 
 def _copytree(entries, src, dst, symlinks, ignore, copy_function,
-              ignore_dangling_symlinks, dirs_exist_ok=False):
+              ignore_dangling_symlinks, dirs_exist_ok, use_srcentry):
     if ignore is not None:
         ignored_names = ignore(src, set(os.listdir(src)))
     else:
@@ -440,7 +440,6 @@ def _copytree(entries, src, dst, symlinks, ignore, copy_function,
 
     os.makedirs(dst, exist_ok=dirs_exist_ok)
     errors = []
-    use_srcentry = copy_function is copy2 or copy_function is copy
 
     for srcentry in entries:
         if srcentry.name in ignored_names:
@@ -490,7 +489,8 @@ def _copytree(entries, src, dst, symlinks, ignore, copy_function,
     return dst
 
 def copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None, copy_function=copy2,
-             ignore_dangling_symlinks=False, dirs_exist_ok=False):
+             ignore_dangling_symlinks=False, dirs_exist_ok=False,
+             use_srcentry=True):
     """Recursively copy a directory tree and return the destination directory.
 
     dirs_exist_ok dictates whether to raise an exception in case dst or any
@@ -526,12 +526,17 @@ def copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None, copy_function=copy2,
     destination path as arguments. By default, copy2() is used, but any
     function that supports the same signature (like copy()) can be used.
 
+    When the copy_function should recieve a srcentry (like copy2() and
+    copy()), set use_srcentry to true, otherwise the function will pass
+    only the srcname to the copy_function.
+
     """
     with os.scandir(src) as entries:
         return _copytree(entries=entries, src=src, dst=dst, symlinks=symlinks,
                          ignore=ignore, copy_function=copy_function,
                          ignore_dangling_symlinks=ignore_dangling_symlinks,
-                         dirs_exist_ok=dirs_exist_ok)
+                         dirs_exist_ok=dirs_exist_ok,
+                         use_srcentry=use_srcentry)
 
 # version vulnerable to race conditions
 def _rmtree_unsafe(path, onerror):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-01-03-19-08-44.bpo-35652.6c7eB5.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-01-03-19-08-44.bpo-35652.6c7eB5.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..5ceb9f0663c561
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-01-03-19-08-44.bpo-35652.6c7eB5.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+shutil.copytree has now the `use_srcentry` argument. With this it's possible to control if the *copy_function* will get a srcentry or srcname.
\ No newline at end of file