This patch from Antti Tapaninen added the --omit-dir-changes option, which
tells rsync to not affect any attributes on the directories in the transfer.

To use this patch, run these commands for a successful build:

    patch -p1 <patches/omit-dir-changes.diff
    ./configure                              (optional if already run)
    make

--- old/generator.c
+++ new/generator.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ extern int preserve_uid;
 extern int preserve_gid;
 extern int preserve_times;
 extern int omit_dir_times;
+extern int omit_dir_changes;
 extern int delete_mode;
 extern int delete_before;
 extern int delete_during;
@@ -348,10 +349,11 @@ void itemize(struct file_struct *file, i
 			iflags |= ITEM_REPORT_TIME;
 		if ((file->mode & CHMOD_BITS) != (st->st_mode & CHMOD_BITS))
 			iflags |= ITEM_REPORT_PERMS;
-		if (preserve_uid && am_root && file->uid != st->st_uid)
+		if (preserve_uid && am_root && file->uid != st->st_uid
+		 && !(omit_dir_changes && S_ISDIR(st->st_mode)))
 			iflags |= ITEM_REPORT_OWNER;
-		if (preserve_gid && file->gid != GID_NONE
-		    && st->st_gid != file->gid)
+		if (preserve_gid && file->gid != GID_NONE && st->st_gid != file->gid
+		 && !(omit_dir_changes && S_ISDIR(st->st_mode)))
 			iflags |= ITEM_REPORT_GROUP;
 	} else
 		iflags |= ITEM_IS_NEW;
@@ -892,7 +894,7 @@ static void recv_generator(char *fname, 
 
 	/* If we're not preserving permissions, change the file-list's
 	 * mode based on the local permissions and some heuristics. */
-	if (!preserve_perms) {
+	if (!preserve_perms || (omit_dir_changes && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))) {
 		int exists = statret == 0
 			  && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) == S_ISDIR(file->mode);
 		file->mode = dest_mode(file->mode, st.st_mode, exists);
--- old/options.c
+++ new/options.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ int preserve_uid = 0;
 int preserve_gid = 0;
 int preserve_times = 0;
 int omit_dir_times = 0;
+int omit_dir_changes = 0;
 int update_only = 0;
 int cvs_exclude = 0;
 int dry_run = 0;
@@ -313,6 +314,7 @@ void usage(enum logcode F)
   rprintf(F," -D                          same as --devices --specials\n");
   rprintf(F," -t, --times                 preserve times\n");
   rprintf(F," -O, --omit-dir-times        omit directories when preserving times\n");
+  rprintf(F,"     --omit-dir-changes      omit directories when preserving any attributes\n");
   rprintf(F,"     --super                 receiver attempts super-user activities\n");
   rprintf(F," -S, --sparse                handle sparse files efficiently\n");
   rprintf(F," -n, --dry-run               show what would have been transferred\n");
@@ -429,6 +431,7 @@ static struct poptOption long_options[] 
   {"no-times",         0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_times, 0, 0, 0 },
   {"no-t",             0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_times, 0, 0, 0 },
   {"omit-dir-times",  'O', POPT_ARG_VAL,    &omit_dir_times, 2, 0, 0 },
+  {"omit-dir-changes", 0,  POPT_ARG_NONE,   &omit_dir_changes, 0, 0, 0 },
   {"modify-window",    0,  POPT_ARG_INT,    &modify_window, OPT_MODIFY_WINDOW, 0, 0 },
   {"super",            0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &am_root, 2, 0, 0 },
   {"no-super",         0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &am_root, 0, 0, 0 },
@@ -1287,6 +1290,9 @@ int parse_arguments(int *argc, const cha
 			"P *%s", backup_suffix);
 		parse_rule(&filter_list, backup_dir_buf, 0, 0);
 	}
+
+	if (omit_dir_changes)
+		omit_dir_times = 2;
 	if (make_backups && !backup_dir)
 		omit_dir_times = 1;
 
@@ -1515,6 +1521,8 @@ void server_options(char **args,int *arg
 			argstr[x++] = 'm';
 		if (omit_dir_times == 2)
 			argstr[x++] = 'O';
+		if (omit_dir_changes == 1)
+			args[ac++] = "--omit-dir-changes";
 	} else {
 		if (copy_links)
 			argstr[x++] = 'L';
--- old/receiver.c
+++ new/receiver.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ extern int protocol_version;
 extern int relative_paths;
 extern int preserve_hard_links;
 extern int preserve_perms;
+extern int omit_dir_changes;
 extern int basis_dir_cnt;
 extern int make_backups;
 extern int cleanup_got_literal;
@@ -551,7 +552,7 @@ int recv_files(int f_in, struct file_lis
 
 		/* If we're not preserving permissions, change the file-list's
 		 * mode based on the local permissions and some heuristics. */
-		if (!preserve_perms) {
+		if (!preserve_perms || (omit_dir_changes && S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))) {
 			int exists = fd1 != -1;
 			file->mode = dest_mode(file->mode, st.st_mode, exists);
 		}
--- old/rsync.c
+++ new/rsync.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ extern int preserve_perms;
 extern int preserve_executability;
 extern int preserve_times;
 extern int omit_dir_times;
+extern int omit_dir_changes;
 extern int am_root;
 extern int am_server;
 extern int am_sender;
@@ -162,9 +163,11 @@ int set_file_attrs(char *fname, struct f
 			updated = 1;
 	}
 
-	change_uid = am_root && preserve_uid && st->st_uid != file->uid;
+	change_uid = am_root && preserve_uid && st->st_uid != file->uid
+		&& !(omit_dir_changes && S_ISDIR(st->st_mode));
 	change_gid = preserve_gid && file->gid != GID_NONE
-		&& st->st_gid != file->gid;
+		&& st->st_gid != file->gid
+		&& !(omit_dir_changes && S_ISDIR(st->st_mode));
 #if !defined HAVE_LCHOWN && !defined CHOWN_MODIFIES_SYMLINK
 	if (S_ISLNK(st->st_mode))
 		;