Any idea which place in the Makefile's or in loadup.el does that?
I think nextstep/Makefile.in contains
# FIXME: Don't install the dump file into the app bundle when
# self-contained install is disabled.
${ns_applibexecdir}/Emacs.pdmp: ${ns_appdir} ${ns_check_file}
../src/emacs${EXEEXT}.pdmp
${MKDIR_P} ${ns_applibexecdir}
cp -f ../src/emacs${EXEEXT}.pdmp $@
and the "all" target has that the pdmp as a dependency.
Sounds like a bug, yes: either the same thing should be done for all the
files in ${ns_applibexecdir} or it should be done for none.
This said, I'm, 100% unfamiliar with the way the `Emacs.app` directory
is built, so maybe this is a feature rather than a bug.
I have no idea though what the comment means, or if the cp if necessary
for something.
The FIXME sounds to me like it's hinting at the same bug you're seeing
(tho maybe another manifestation of it), and since there's a FIXME
I presume that fixing it isn't as simple as removing this rule :-)