diff --git a/.github/codecov-upstream.yml b/.github/codecov-upstream.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1256a4389..000000000
--- a/.github/codecov-upstream.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# this file replaces <root>/codecov.yml when building on the main repository and PRs
-coverage:
-  status:
-    project: true
-    patch: true
-    changes: true
-
-comment: off
-
-codecov:
-  # token from: https://codecov.io/gh/pytest-dev/pytest/settings
-  # use same URL to regenerate it if needed
-  token: "1eca3b1f-31a2-4fb8-a8c3-138b441b50a7"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 5d7493e72..b1bae1c18 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Prepare coverage token
       if: success() && !matrix.skip_coverage && ( github.repository == 'pytest-dev/pytest' || github.event_name == 'pull_request' )
       run: |
-        cp .github/codecov-upstream.yml codecov.yml
+        python scripts/append_codecov_token.py
 
     - name: Combine coverage
       if: success() && !matrix.skip_coverage
diff --git a/codecov.yml b/codecov.yml
index 44fd14710..a0a308588 100644
--- a/codecov.yml
+++ b/codecov.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-# note: `.github/codecov-upstream.yml` is basically a copy of this file, please propagate
-# changes as needed
 coverage:
   status:
     project: true
diff --git a/scripts/append_codecov_token.py b/scripts/append_codecov_token.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8eecb0fa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/append_codecov_token.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+"""
+Appends the codecov token to the 'codecov.yml' file at the root of the repository.
+
+This is done by CI during PRs and builds on the pytest-dev repository so we can upload coverage, at least
+until codecov grows some native integration like it has with Travis and AppVeyor.
+
+See discussion in https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/pull/6441 for more information.
+"""
+import os.path
+from textwrap import dedent
+
+
+def main():
+    this_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+    cov_file = os.path.join(this_dir, "..", "codecov.yml")
+
+    assert os.path.isfile(cov_file), "{cov_file} does not exist".format(
+        cov_file=cov_file
+    )
+
+    with open(cov_file, "a") as f:
+        # token from: https://codecov.io/gh/pytest-dev/pytest/settings
+        # use same URL to regenerate it if needed
+        text = dedent(
+            """
+            codecov:
+              token: "1eca3b1f-31a2-4fb8-a8c3-138b441b50a7"
+        """
+        )
+        f.write(text)
+
+    print("Token updated:", cov_file)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()