diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0cd81d9..67a49b8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -698,6 +698,7 @@ This is legacy DOS networking code from the mid-1990s, and a few caveats are wor
 - `FLAGDIR` currently focuses on the NetWare 386-style attributes and simple mapped directory paths.
 - OS/2 requester behavior is still future work.
 - Some authentication and password-change paths still keep older calls as compatibility fallbacks.
+- `NCOPY` is still built so it stays compile-tested, but it is intentionally not registered in the `NET` multicall dispatcher while the NCP87/OpenCreate -> NCP74 server-side copy path remains under investigation.
 
 ## Historical metadata
 
diff --git a/ncopy.c b/ncopy.c
index bc74bce..a8cd8d8 100644
--- a/ncopy.c
+++ b/ncopy.c
@@ -190,15 +190,6 @@ static int ncopy_is_dir(char *path)
   return(0);
 }
 
-static void ncopy_parent_pattern(char *dir, char *pat, char *path)
-{
-  tool_parent_pattern(dir, pat, path, 260, 260);
-  if (!dir[0])
-    strmaxcpy(dir, ".", 259);
-  if (!pat[0])
-    strmaxcpy(pat, "*.*", 259);
-}
-
 static void ncopy_add_slash(char *dst, int max)
 {
   int len = strlen(dst);
@@ -1671,7 +1662,11 @@ int func_ncopy(int argc, char *argv[], int mode)
       strmaxcpy(srcdir, src, sizeof(srcdir) - 1);
       strmaxcpy(pat, "*.*", sizeof(pat) - 1);
     } else {
-      ncopy_parent_pattern(srcdir, pat, src);
+      tool_parent_pattern(srcdir, pat, src, 260, 260);
+      if (!srcdir[0])
+        strmaxcpy(srcdir, ".", sizeof(srcdir) - 1);
+      if (!pat[0])
+        strmaxcpy(pat, "*.*", sizeof(pat) - 1);
     }
     result = ncopy_copy_pattern(srcdir, pat, dst, options, &copied, &failed);
   } else {