diff --git a/cmd/podman/containers/cp.go b/cmd/podman/containers/cp.go
index ae42eac7b46..abc311bb83b 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/containers/cp.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/containers/cp.go
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ var (
 func cpFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	flags := cmd.Flags()
 	flags.BoolVar(&cpOpts.OverwriteDirNonDir, "overwrite", false, "Allow to overwrite directories with non-directories and vice versa")
-	flags.BoolVarP(&chown, "archive", "a", true, `Chown copied files to the primary uid/gid of the destination container.`)
+	flags.BoolVarP(&chown, "archive", "a", false, `Chown copied files to the primary uid/gid of the destination container.`)
 
 	// Deprecated flags (both are NOPs): exist for backwards compat
 	flags.BoolVar(&cpOpts.Extract, "extract", false, "Deprecated...")
diff --git a/libpod/container_copy_common.go b/libpod/container_copy_common.go
index 66b66e8c924..ba76d7406a3 100644
--- a/libpod/container_copy_common.go
+++ b/libpod/container_copy_common.go
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ func (c *Container) copyFromArchive(path string, chown, noOverwriteDirNonDir boo
 	}
 
 	var idPair *idtools.IDPair
+	var userlessContainer bool
 	if chown {
 		// Make sure we chown the files to the container's main user and group ID.
 		user, err := getContainerUser(c, mountPoint)
@@ -196,6 +197,7 @@ func (c *Container) copyFromArchive(path string, chown, noOverwriteDirNonDir boo
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		idPair = &idtools.IDPair{UID: int(user.UID), GID: int(user.GID)}
+		userlessContainer = user.UserlessContainer
 	}
 
 	decompressed, err := archive.DecompressStream(reader)
@@ -219,6 +221,7 @@ func (c *Container) copyFromArchive(path string, chown, noOverwriteDirNonDir boo
 			NoOverwriteDirNonDir: noOverwriteDirNonDir,
 			NoOverwriteNonDirDir: noOverwriteDirNonDir,
 			Rename:               rename,
+			UserlessContainer:    userlessContainer,
 		}
 
 		return c.joinMountAndExec(
@@ -311,9 +314,15 @@ func getContainerUser(container *Container, mountPoint string) (specs.User, erro
 
 	uid, gid, _, err := chrootuser.GetUser(mountPoint, userspec)
 	u := specs.User{
-		UID:      uid,
-		GID:      gid,
-		Username: userspec,
+		UID:               uid,
+		GID:               gid,
+		Username:          userspec,
+		UserlessContainer: false,
+	}
+
+	if errors.Is(err, chrootuser.ErrUserlessContainer) {
+		u.UserlessContainer = true
+		err = nil
 	}
 
 	if !strings.Contains(userspec, ":") {
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/copier/copier.go b/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/copier/copier.go
index 6ffe52d86f6..3f5208cb514 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/copier/copier.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/copier/copier.go
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ type PutOptions struct {
 	NoOverwriteDirNonDir bool              // instead of quietly overwriting directories with non-directories, return an error
 	NoOverwriteNonDirDir bool              // instead of quietly overwriting non-directories with directories, return an error
 	Rename               map[string]string // rename items with the specified names, or under the specified names
+	UserlessContainer    bool              // indicates userless container
 }
 
 // Put extracts an archive from the bulkReader at the specified directory.
@@ -1943,7 +1944,7 @@ func copierHandlerPut(bulkReader io.Reader, req request, idMappings *idtools.IDM
 				hdr.Name = handleRename(req.PutOptions.Rename, hdr.Name)
 			}
 			// figure out who should own this new item
-			if idMappings != nil && !idMappings.Empty() {
+			if idMappings != nil && !idMappings.Empty() && !req.PutOptions.UserlessContainer {
 				containerPair := idtools.IDPair{UID: hdr.Uid, GID: hdr.Gid}
 				hostPair, err := idMappings.ToHost(containerPair)
 				if err != nil {
@@ -1956,7 +1957,7 @@ func copierHandlerPut(bulkReader io.Reader, req request, idMappings *idtools.IDM
 					hdr.Uid, hdr.Gid = dirUID, dirGID
 				}
 			} else {
-				if req.PutOptions.ChownFiles != nil {
+				if req.PutOptions.ChownFiles != nil && !req.PutOptions.UserlessContainer {
 					hdr.Uid, hdr.Gid = *fileUID, *fileGID
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/pkg/chrootuser/user.go b/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/pkg/chrootuser/user.go
index e81e01d4335..dd1bf0ad675 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/pkg/chrootuser/user.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/containers/buildah/pkg/chrootuser/user.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 // ErrNoSuchUser indicates that the user provided by the caller does not
 // exist in /etc/passws
 var ErrNoSuchUser = errors.New("user does not exist in /etc/passwd")
+var ErrUserlessContainer = errors.New("userless container")
 
 // GetUser will return the uid, gid of the user specified in the userspec
 // it will use the /etc/passwd and /etc/group files inside of the rootdir
@@ -70,6 +71,10 @@ func GetUser(rootdir, userspec string) (uint32, uint32, string, error) {
 		homedir = "/"
 	}
 
+	if spec[0] == "" {
+		return 0, 0, homedir, ErrUserlessContainer
+	}
+
 	if uerr == nil && gerr == nil {
 		return uint32(uid64), uint32(gid64), homedir, nil
 	}
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go/config.go b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go/config.go
index 1aa0693b57d..51fcf2a5466 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go/config.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go/config.go
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ type User struct {
 	AdditionalGids []uint32 `json:"additionalGids,omitempty" platform:"linux,solaris"`
 	// Username is the user name.
 	Username string `json:"username,omitempty" platform:"windows"`
+	// Userless container.
+	UserlessContainer bool `json:"userless,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Root contains information about the container's root filesystem on the host.