diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3f05d18..7a6c9d2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ usage: s3-pit-restore [-h] -b BUCKET [-B DEST_BUCKET] [-d DEST]
                       [-P DEST_PREFIX] [-p PREFIX] [-t TIMESTAMP]
                       [-f FROM_TIMESTAMP] [-e] [-v] [--dry-run] [--debug]
                       [--test] [--max-workers MAX_WORKERS]
+                      [--avoid-duplicates]
                       [--sse {AES256,aws:kms}]
 
 optional arguments:
@@ -129,6 +130,7 @@ optional arguments:
   --test                s3 pit restore testing
   --max-workers MAX_WORKERS
                         max number of concurrent download requests
+  --avoid-duplicates    tries to avoid copying files that are already at the latest version
   --sse ALGORITHM
                         specify what SSE algorithm you would like to use for the copy
 ```
diff --git a/s3-pit-restore b/s3-pit-restore
index 58b5062..355fc38 100755
--- a/s3-pit-restore
+++ b/s3-pit-restore
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import os, sys, time, signal, argparse, boto3, botocore, \
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from dateutil.parser import parse
 from s3transfer.manager import TransferConfig
+from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
 
 args = None
 executor = None
@@ -237,6 +238,8 @@ def handled_by_standard(obj):
     return True
 
 def handled_by_copy(obj):
+    if args.avoid_duplicates and not needs_copy(obj):
+        return True
     if args.dry_run:
         print_obj(obj)
         return True
@@ -245,6 +248,20 @@ def handled_by_copy(obj):
     futures[future] = obj
     return True
 
+def needs_copy(obj):
+    try:
+        destination_object_data = client.head_object(Bucket=args.dest_bucket, Key=obj["Key"])
+    except ClientError as error:
+        if error.response['ResponseMetadata']['HTTPStatusCode'] == 404:
+            return True
+        else:
+            raise error
+    # Won't work for files uploaded with different multipart chunk sizes
+    if args.bucket != args.dest_bucket:
+        return obj["ETag"] != destination_object_data["ETag"]
+    else:
+        return obj["VersionId"] != destination_object_data["VersionId"]
+
 def download_file(obj):
     transfer.download_file(args.bucket, obj["Key"], obj["Key"], extra_args={"VersionId": obj["VersionId"]})
     unixtime = time.mktime(obj["LastModified"].timetuple())
@@ -401,6 +418,7 @@ if __name__=='__main__':
     parser.add_argument('--debug', help='enable debug output', action='store_true')
     parser.add_argument('--test', help='s3 pit restore testing', action='store_true')
     parser.add_argument('--max-workers', help='max number of concurrent download requests', default=10, type=int)
+    parser.add_argument('--avoid-duplicates', help='avoids copying files if the latest version is the version that matches timestamp requested', action='store_true')
     parser.add_argument('--sse', choices=['AES256', 'aws:kms'], help='Specify server-side encryption')
     args = parser.parse_args()