diff --git a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/bin/scrapy-admin.py b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/bin/scrapy-admin.py
index a64228008..efbd61c0e 100755
--- a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/bin/scrapy-admin.py
+++ b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/bin/scrapy-admin.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 """Scrapy admin script is used to create new scrapy projects and similar
 tasks"""
 import os
-import shutil
 import string
 from optparse import OptionParser
 
 import scrapy
 from scrapy.utils.misc import render_templatefile, string_camelcase
+from scrapy.utils.misc import ignore_patterns, copytree
 
 usage = """
 scrapy-admin.py [options] [command]
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ TEMPLATES = (
         '${project_name}/pipelines.py',
         )
 
+IGNORE = ignore_patterns('*.pyc', '.svn')
+
 def main():
     parser = OptionParser(usage=usage)
     opts, args = parser.parse_args()
@@ -45,10 +47,11 @@ def main():
             project_module_path = '%s/%s' % (project_name, project_name)
 
             roottpl = os.path.join(PROJECT_TEMPLATES_PATH, 'root')
-            shutil.copytree(roottpl, project_name)
+            copytree(roottpl, project_name, ignore=IGNORE)
 
             moduletpl = os.path.join(PROJECT_TEMPLATES_PATH, 'module')
-            shutil.copytree(moduletpl, '%s/%s' % (project_name, project_name))
+            copytree(moduletpl, '%s/%s' % (project_name, project_name),
+                     ignore=IGNORE)
 
             for path in TEMPLATES:
                 tplfile = os.path.join(project_root_path,
diff --git a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/utils/misc.py b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/utils/misc.py
index 8886f1afd..4abfc6674 100644
--- a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/utils/misc.py
+++ b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/utils/misc.py
@@ -174,3 +174,60 @@ def string_camelcase(string):
 
     """
     return CAMELCASE_INVALID_CHARS.sub('', string.title())
+
+
+# shutil.copytree from Python 2.6 (for backwards compatibility)
+import fnmatch
+import os
+from shutil import copy2, copystat, WindowsError
+
+
+def ignore_patterns(*patterns):
+    def _ignore_patterns(path, names):
+        ignored_names = []
+        for pattern in patterns:
+            ignored_names.extend(fnmatch.filter(names, pattern))
+        return set(ignored_names)
+    return _ignore_patterns
+
+
+def copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None):
+    names = os.listdir(src)
+    if ignore is not None:
+        ignored_names = ignore(src, names)
+    else:
+        ignored_names = set()
+
+    os.makedirs(dst)
+    errors = []
+    for name in names:
+        if name in ignored_names:
+            continue
+        srcname = os.path.join(src, name)
+        dstname = os.path.join(dst, name)
+        try:
+            if symlinks and os.path.islink(srcname):
+                linkto = os.readlink(srcname)
+                os.symlink(linkto, dstname)
+            elif os.path.isdir(srcname):
+                copytree(srcname, dstname, symlinks, ignore)
+            else:
+                copy2(srcname, dstname)
+            # XXX What about devices, sockets etc.?
+        except (IOError, os.error), why:
+            errors.append((srcname, dstname, str(why)))
+        # catch the Error from the recursive copytree so that we can
+        # continue with other files
+        except Error, err:
+            errors.extend(err.args[0])
+    try:
+        copystat(src, dst)
+    except OSError, why:
+        if WindowsError is not None and isinstance(why, WindowsError):
+            # Copying file access times may fail on Windows
+            pass
+        else:
+            errors.extend((src, dst, str(why)))
+    if errors:
+        raise Error, errors
+