diff --git a/include/vcpkg/base/messages.h b/include/vcpkg/base/messages.h
index 8b9388773e..a75311da03 100644
--- a/include/vcpkg/base/messages.h
+++ b/include/vcpkg/base/messages.h
@@ -659,6 +659,7 @@ namespace vcpkg
                     "{command_line}\n"
                     "failed with the following results:");
     DECLARE_MESSAGE(CompressFolderFailed, (msg::path), "", "Failed to compress folder \"{path}\":");
+    DECLARE_MESSAGE(CopyrightIsDir, (msg::path), "", "`{path}` being a directory is deprecated.");
     DECLARE_MESSAGE(CouldNotDeduceNugetIdAndVersion,
                     (msg::path),
                     "",
diff --git a/locales/messages.en.json b/locales/messages.en.json
index 79df3b0828..b66cc45e67 100644
--- a/locales/messages.en.json
+++ b/locales/messages.en.json
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
   "CmakeTargetsExcluded": "note: {count} additional targets are not displayed.",
   "CommandFailed": "command:\n{command_line}\nfailed with the following results:",
   "CompressFolderFailed": "Failed to compress folder \"{path}\":",
+  "CopyrightIsDir": "`{path}` being a directory is deprecated.",
   "CouldNotDeduceNugetIdAndVersion": "Could not deduce nuget id and version from filename: {path}",
   "CreatedNuGetPackage": "Created nupkg: \"{path}\"",
   "CurlReportedUnexpectedResults": "curl has reported unexpected results to vcpkg and vcpkg cannot continue.\nPlease review the following text for sensitive information and open an issue on the Microsoft/vcpkg GitHub to help fix this problem!\ncmd: {command_line}\n=== curl output ===\n{actual}\n=== end curl output ===",
diff --git a/locales/messages.json b/locales/messages.json
index a1b2a5c287..6ef870173c 100644
--- a/locales/messages.json
+++ b/locales/messages.json
@@ -140,6 +140,8 @@
   "_CommandFailed.comment": "An example of {command_line} is vcpkg install zlib.",
   "CompressFolderFailed": "Failed to compress folder \"{path}\":",
   "_CompressFolderFailed.comment": "An example of {path} is /foo/bar.",
+  "CopyrightIsDir": "`{path}` being a directory is deprecated.",
+  "_CopyrightIsDir.comment": "An example of {path} is /foo/bar.",
   "CouldNotDeduceNugetIdAndVersion": "Could not deduce nuget id and version from filename: {path}",
   "_CouldNotDeduceNugetIdAndVersion.comment": "An example of {path} is /foo/bar.",
   "CreatedNuGetPackage": "Created nupkg: \"{path}\"",
diff --git a/src/vcpkg/base/messages.cpp b/src/vcpkg/base/messages.cpp
index bd5c8da46b..cea447f51b 100644
--- a/src/vcpkg/base/messages.cpp
+++ b/src/vcpkg/base/messages.cpp
@@ -481,6 +481,7 @@ namespace vcpkg
     REGISTER_MESSAGE(CMakeTargetsUsageHeuristicMessage);
     REGISTER_MESSAGE(CMakeToolChainFile);
     REGISTER_MESSAGE(CommandFailed);
+    REGISTER_MESSAGE(CopyrightIsDir);
     REGISTER_MESSAGE(CompressFolderFailed);
     REGISTER_MESSAGE(CouldNotDeduceNugetIdAndVersion);
     REGISTER_MESSAGE(CreatedNuGetPackage);
diff --git a/src/vcpkg/install.cpp b/src/vcpkg/install.cpp
index 16d5b14780..baa50ee3ac 100644
--- a/src/vcpkg/install.cpp
+++ b/src/vcpkg/install.cpp
@@ -692,7 +692,7 @@ namespace vcpkg
         std::error_code ec;
 
         auto usage_file = installed.usage_file(bpgh.spec);
-        if (fs.exists(usage_file, IgnoreErrors{}))
+        if (fs.is_regular_file(usage_file))
         {
             ret.usage_file = true;
             auto contents = fs.read_contents(usage_file, ec);
diff --git a/src/vcpkg/postbuildlint.cpp b/src/vcpkg/postbuildlint.cpp
index e74190036b..f264abde03 100644
--- a/src/vcpkg/postbuildlint.cpp
+++ b/src/vcpkg/postbuildlint.cpp
@@ -342,10 +342,14 @@ namespace vcpkg::PostBuildLint
     {
         const auto packages_dir = paths.packages() / spec.dir();
         const auto copyright_file = packages_dir / "share" / spec.name() / "copyright";
-        if (fs.exists(copyright_file, IgnoreErrors{}))
+
+        switch (fs.status(copyright_file, IgnoreErrors{}))
         {
-            return LintStatus::SUCCESS;
+            case FileType::regular: return LintStatus::SUCCESS; break;
+            case FileType::directory: msg::println_warning(msgCopyrightIsDir, msg::path = "copyright"); break;
+            default: break;
         }
+
         const auto current_buildtrees_dir = paths.build_dir(spec);
         const auto current_buildtrees_dir_src = current_buildtrees_dir / "src";