While it is well established that the ground state reorientation coupling can have a significant influence on the elastic scattering of deformed nuclei, the effect of such couplings on transfer channels has been much less well investigated. In this letter we demonstrate that the $$^{208}\hbox {Pb}(^7\hbox {Li},^6\hbox {He})^{209}\hbox {Bi}$$
208
Pb
(
7
Li
,
6
He
)
209
Bi
proton stripping reaction at an incident energy of 52 MeV can be well described by the inclusion of the $$^7\hbox {Li}$$
7
Li
ground state reorientation coupling within the coupled channels Born approximation formalism. Full finite-range distorted wave Born approximation calculations were previously found to be unable to describe these data. Addition of coupling to the 0.478-MeV $$1/2^-$$
1
/
2
-
excited state of $$^7\hbox {Li}$$
7
Li
, together with the associated two-step transfer path, has little or no influence on the shape of the angular distributions (except that for stripping leading to the 1.61-MeV $$13/2^+$$
13
/
2
+
level of $$^{209}\hbox {Bi}$$
209
Bi
which is significantly improved) but does affect appreciably the values of the $$^{209}\mathrm {Bi} \rightarrow {^{208}\mathrm {Pb}} + p$$
209
Bi
→
208
Pb
+
p
spectroscopic factors. Implications for experiments with weakly-bound light radioactive beams are discussed.