diff --git a/conf.py b/conf.py
index dd3110c141ded1e89719f5da97ece3c7b9f112b8..a9518ac67e7ca48227593fdcf5ba97c1328186ff 100644
--- a/conf.py
+++ b/conf.py
@@ -416,8 +416,8 @@ REDIRECTIONS = []
 # in a `nikola deploy` command as you like.
 DEPLOY_COMMANDS = {
     'default': [
-        "rsync -rav -e 'ssh -i deploy_key' --delete --filter 'P doc/*' output/* kwant@kwant-project.org:",
-        "rsync -av -e 'ssh -i deploy_key' htaccess-apache kwant@kwant-project.org:/.htaccess",
+        "rsync -rlv -e 'ssh -i deploy_key' --delete --filter 'P doc/*' output/* kwant@kwant-project.org:",
+        "rsync -lv -e 'ssh -i deploy_key' htaccess-apache kwant@kwant-project.org:/.htaccess",
     ]
 }