diff --git a/src/uu/cp/src/copydir.rs b/src/uu/cp/src/copydir.rs
index e0d6e96db..8930282fb 100644
--- a/src/uu/cp/src/copydir.rs
+++ b/src/uu/cp/src/copydir.rs
@@ -303,6 +303,27 @@ pub(crate) fn copy_directory(
         .into());
     }
 
+    // If in `--parents` mode, create all the necessary ancestor directories.
+    //
+    // For example, if the command is `cp --parents a/b/c d`, that
+    // means we need to copy the two ancestor directories first:
+    //
+    // a -> d/a
+    // a/b -> d/a/b
+    //
+    let tmp = if options.parents {
+        if let Some(parent) = root.parent() {
+            let new_target = target.join(parent);
+            std::fs::create_dir_all(&new_target)?;
+            new_target
+        } else {
+            target.to_path_buf()
+        }
+    } else {
+        target.to_path_buf()
+    };
+    let target = tmp.as_path();
+
     let mut hard_links: Vec<(String, u64)> = vec![];
     let preserve_hard_links = options.preserve_hard_links();
 
diff --git a/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs b/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs
index 299eca9cf..3a1697039 100644
--- a/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs
+++ b/src/uu/cp/src/cp.rs
@@ -1146,7 +1146,16 @@ fn copy_attribute(source: &Path, dest: &Path, attribute: &Attribute) -> CopyResu
             }
             #[cfg(not(unix))]
             {
-                return Err("XAttrs are only supported on unix.".to_string().into());
+                // The documentation for GNU cp states:
+                //
+                // > Try to preserve SELinux security context and
+                // > extended attributes (xattr), but ignore any failure
+                // > to do that and print no corresponding diagnostic.
+                //
+                // so we simply do nothing here.
+                //
+                // TODO Silently ignore failures in the `#[cfg(unix)]`
+                // block instead of terminating immediately on errors.
             }
         }
     };
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_cp.rs b/tests/by-util/test_cp.rs
index 8860a57a5..8285905c5 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_cp.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_cp.rs
@@ -217,15 +217,18 @@ fn test_cp_target_directory_is_file() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_cp_arg_interactive() {
-    new_ucmd!()
-        .arg(TEST_HELLO_WORLD_SOURCE)
-        .arg(TEST_HOW_ARE_YOU_SOURCE)
-        .arg("-i")
+    let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();
+    at.touch("a");
+    at.touch("b");
+    // TODO The prompt in GNU cp is different, and it doesn't have the
+    // response either.
+    //
+    // See <https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/issues/4023>.
+    ucmd.args(&["-i", "a", "b"])
         .pipe_in("N\n")
         .succeeds()
         .no_stdout()
-        .stderr_contains(format!("overwrite '{}'?", TEST_HOW_ARE_YOU_SOURCE))
-        .stderr_contains("Not overwriting");
+        .stderr_is("cp: overwrite 'b'?  [y/N]: cp: Not overwriting 'b' at user request\n");
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -1996,6 +1999,19 @@ fn test_copy_same_symlink_no_dereference_dangling() {
     ucmd.args(&["-d", "a", "b"]).succeeds();
 }
 
+#[cfg(not(windows))]
+#[test]
+fn test_cp_parents_2_dirs() {
+    let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();
+    at.mkdir_all("a/b/c");
+    at.mkdir("d");
+    ucmd.args(&["-a", "--parents", "a/b/c", "d"])
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_stderr()
+        .no_stdout();
+    assert!(at.dir_exists("d/a/b/c"));
+}
+
 #[test]
 #[ignore = "issue #3332"]
 fn test_cp_parents_2() {