diff --git a/Doc/library/shutil.rst b/Doc/library/shutil.rst
index 080c923..ec8cad2 100644
--- a/Doc/library/shutil.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/shutil.rst
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
    *dst* and return *dst*.  *src* and *dst* are path names given as strings.
    *dst* must be the complete target file name; look at :func:`shutil.copy`
    for a copy that accepts a target directory path.  If *src* and *dst*
-   specify the same file, :exc:`Error` is raised.
+   specify the same file, :exc:`SameFileError` is raised.
 
    The destination location must be writable; otherwise, an :exc:`OSError`
    exception will be raised. If *dst* already exists, it will be replaced.
@@ -69,6 +69,18 @@
       Added *follow_symlinks* argument.
       Now returns *dst*.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.4
+      Raise :exc:`SameFileError` instead of :exc:`Error`.
+
+
+.. exception:: SameFileError
+
+   This exception is raised if source and destination in :func:`copyfile`
+   are the same file.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.4
+
+
 .. function:: copymode(src, dst, *, follow_symlinks=True)
 
    Copy the permission bits from *src* to *dst*.  The file contents, owner, and
diff --git a/Lib/shutil.py b/Lib/shutil.py
index 5dc311e..27239f6 100644
--- a/Lib/shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/shutil.py
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@
 class Error(EnvironmentError):
     pass
 
+class SameFileError(Error):
+    """Raised when source and destination are the same file."""
+
 class SpecialFileError(EnvironmentError):
     """Raised when trying to do a kind of operation (e.g. copying) which is
     not supported on a special file (e.g. a named pipe)"""
@@ -90,7 +93,7 @@
 
     """
     if _samefile(src, dst):
-        raise Error("`%s` and `%s` are the same file" % (src, dst))
+        raise SameFileError("{!r} and {!r} are the same file".format(src, dst))
 
     for fn in [src, dst]:
         try:
@@ -215,6 +218,9 @@
     If follow_symlinks is false, symlinks won't be followed. This
     resembles GNU's "cp -P src dst".
 
+    If source and destination are the same file, a SameFileError will be
+    raised.
+
     """
     if os.path.isdir(dst):
         dst = os.path.join(dst, os.path.basename(src))
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_shutil.py b/Lib/test/test_shutil.py
index eb0e9a4..cbca767 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_shutil.py
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
                     register_archive_format, unregister_archive_format,
                     get_archive_formats, Error, unpack_archive,
                     register_unpack_format, RegistryError,
-                    unregister_unpack_format, get_unpack_formats)
+                    unregister_unpack_format, get_unpack_formats,
+                    SameFileError)
 import tarfile
 import warnings
 
@@ -688,7 +689,7 @@
             with open(src, 'w') as f:
                 f.write('cheddar')
             os.link(src, dst)
-            self.assertRaises(shutil.Error, shutil.copyfile, src, dst)
+            self.assertRaises(shutil.SameFileError, shutil.copyfile, src, dst)
             with open(src, 'r') as f:
                 self.assertEqual(f.read(), 'cheddar')
             os.remove(dst)
@@ -708,7 +709,7 @@
             # to TESTFN/TESTFN/cheese, while it should point at
             # TESTFN/cheese.
             os.symlink('cheese', dst)
-            self.assertRaises(shutil.Error, shutil.copyfile, src, dst)
+            self.assertRaises(shutil.SameFileError, shutil.copyfile, src, dst)
             with open(src, 'r') as f:
                 self.assertEqual(f.read(), 'cheddar')
             os.remove(dst)
@@ -1215,6 +1216,14 @@
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(rv))
         self.assertEqual(read_file(src_file), read_file(dst_file))
 
+    def test_copyfile_same_file(self):
+        # copyfile() should raise SameFileError if the source and destination
+        # are the same.
+        src_dir = self.mkdtemp()
+        src_file = os.path.join(src_dir, 'foo')
+        write_file(src_file, 'foo')
+        self.assertRaises(SameFileError, shutil.copyfile, src_file, src_file)
+
     def test_copytree_return_value(self):
         # copytree returns its destination path.
         src_dir = self.mkdtemp()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index c0b55f6..f0c0bb1 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #1492704: shutil.copyfile() raises a distinct SameFileError now if
+  source and destination are the same file. Patch by Atsuo Ishimoto.
+
 - Issue #13896: Make shelf instances work with 'with' as context managers.
   Original patch by Filip Gruszczyński.