diff --git a/paxutils b/paxutils
index ec72abd9..d03eab65 160000
--- a/paxutils
+++ b/paxutils
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit ec72abd9dd63bbff4534ec77e97b1a6cadfc3cf8
+Subproject commit d03eab65d31aa4be7682e9c0271b5793d8227698
diff --git a/src/create.c b/src/create.c
index 4fbdf66d..bb720f7c 100644
--- a/src/create.c
+++ b/src/create.c
@@ -1395,13 +1395,15 @@ create_archive (void)
 					   open_searchdir_flags);
 			  if (fd < 0)
 			    {
-			      open_diag (p->name);
+			      file_removed_diag (p->name, !p->parent,
+						 open_diag);
 			      break;
 			    }
 			  st.fd = fd;
 			  if (fstat (fd, &st.stat) != 0)
 			    {
-			      stat_diag (p->name);
+			      file_removed_diag (p->name, !p->parent,
+						 stat_diag);
 			      break;
 			    }
 			  st.orig_file_name = xstrdup (p->name);
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 70711676..43cc88f4 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ TESTSUITE_AT = \
  extrac20.at\
  filerem01.at\
  filerem02.at\
+ dirrem01.at\
+ dirrem02.at\
  gzip.at\
  grow.at\
  incremental.at\
diff --git a/tests/dirrem01.at b/tests/dirrem01.at
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40344dc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dirrem01.at
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Process this file with autom4te to create testsuite. -*- Autotest -*-
+
+# Test suite for GNU tar.
+# Copyright 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+# This file is part of GNU tar.
+
+# GNU tar is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# GNU tar is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Description:
+#
+# When a directory in a deep directory disappeared during creation
+# of incremental dump, tar <= 1.29 exits with TAREXIT_FAILURE (2).
+#
+# In case of files tar does not return TAREXIT_FAILURE, but instead
+# it prints a warning and exits with TAREXIT_DIFFERS.
+#
+# This test checks whether this behaviour is mimicked for directories, too.
+
+# Remark: This file is based on 'filerem01.at', which is the test-case for
+# a vanishing file.
+
+AT_SETUP([directory removed before reading])
+AT_KEYWORDS([create incremental listed dirchange dirrem dirrem01])
+
+AT_TAR_CHECK([
+mkdir dir
+mkdir dir/sub
+genfile --file dir/file1
+genfile --file dir/sub/file2
+
+case "$TEST_TAR_FORMAT" in
+posix) CPT=5;;
+gnu)   CPT=3;;
+*)     AT_SKIP_TEST
+esac
+
+genfile --run --checkpoint=$CPT --unlink dir/sub/file2 --unlink dir/sub -- \
+       tar --blocking-factor=1 --checkpoint=1 --checkpoint-action='sleep=1' \
+       --checkpoint-action='echo' -c -f archive.tar \
+       --listed-incremental db -v dir >/dev/null
+],
+[1],
+[ignore],
+[tar: dir: Directory is new
+tar: dir/sub: Directory is new
+tar: dir/sub: File removed before we read it
+],[],[],[gnu,posix])
+
+AT_CLEANUP
+
diff --git a/tests/dirrem02.at b/tests/dirrem02.at
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e1cf9ef8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dirrem02.at
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# Process this file with autom4te to create testsuite. -*- Autotest -*-
+
+# Test suite for GNU tar.
+# Copyright 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+# This file is part of GNU tar.
+
+# GNU tar is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# GNU tar is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Description:
+#
+# When an explicitley named directory disappears during creation
+# of incremental dump, tar should still exit with TAREXIT_FAILURE (2).
+#
+# For further details see dirrem01.at
+
+# Remark: This file is based on 'filerem01/02.at', which are test-cases for
+# vanishing files.
+
+AT_SETUP([explicitly named directory removed before reading])
+AT_KEYWORDS([create incremental listed dirchange dirrem dirrem02])
+
+AT_TAR_CHECK([
+mkdir dir
+mkdir dir/sub
+genfile --file dir/file1
+genfile --file dir/sub/file2
+
+case "$TEST_TAR_FORMAT" in
+posix) CPT=5;;
+gnu)   CPT=3;;
+*)     AT_SKIP_TEST
+esac
+
+genfile --run --checkpoint=$CPT --unlink dir/sub/file2 --unlink dir/sub -- \
+       tar --blocking-factor=1 --checkpoint=1 --checkpoint-action='sleep=1' \
+       --checkpoint-action='echo' -c -f archive.tar \
+       --listed-incremental db -v dir dir/sub >/dev/null
+],
+[2],
+[ignore],
+[tar: dir: Directory is new
+tar: dir/sub: Directory is new
+tar: dir/sub: Cannot open: No such file or directory
+tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors
+],[],[],[gnu,posix])
+
+AT_CLEANUP
+
diff --git a/tests/testsuite.at b/tests/testsuite.at
index 8c97e34c..a2ee717d 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite.at
+++ b/tests/testsuite.at
@@ -339,6 +339,10 @@ AT_BANNER([Files removed while archiving])
 m4_include([filerem01.at])
 m4_include([filerem02.at])
 
+AT_BANNER([Directories removed while archiving])
+m4_include([dirrem01.at])
+m4_include([dirrem02.at])
+
 AT_BANNER([Renames])
 m4_include([rename01.at])
 m4_include([rename02.at])