diff --git a/components/engine/archive/archive.go b/components/engine/archive/archive.go
index 8d8b7412cc..2ba62f5363 100644
--- a/components/engine/archive/archive.go
+++ b/components/engine/archive/archive.go
@@ -378,13 +378,10 @@ func TarWithOptions(srcPath string, options *TarOptions) (io.ReadCloser, error)
 }
 
 // Untar reads a stream of bytes from `archive`, parses it as a tar archive,
-// and unpacks it into the directory at `dest`.
+// and unpacks it into the directory at `path`.
 // The archive may be compressed with one of the following algorithms:
 //  identity (uncompressed), gzip, bzip2, xz.
-// If `dest` does not exist, it is created unless there are multiple entries in `archive`.
-// In the latter case, an error is returned.
-// If `dest` is an existing file, it gets overwritten.
-// If `dest` is an existing directory, its files get merged (with overwrite for conflicting files).
+// FIXME: specify behavior when target path exists vs. doesn't exist.
 func Untar(archive io.Reader, dest string, options *TarOptions) error {
 	if archive == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Empty archive")
@@ -398,22 +395,7 @@ func Untar(archive io.Reader, dest string, options *TarOptions) error {
 
 	tr := tar.NewReader(decompressedArchive)
 
-	var (
-		dirs            []*tar.Header
-		create          bool
-		multipleEntries bool
-	)
-
-	if fi, err := os.Lstat(dest); err != nil {
-		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			return err
-		}
-		// destination does not exist, so it is assumed it has to be created.
-		create = true
-	} else if !fi.IsDir() {
-		// destination exists and is not a directory, so it will be overwritten.
-		create = true
-	}
+	var dirs []*tar.Header
 
 	// Iterate through the files in the archive.
 	for {
@@ -426,11 +408,6 @@ func Untar(archive io.Reader, dest string, options *TarOptions) error {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		// Return an error if destination needs to be created and there is more than 1 entry in the tar stream.
-		if create && multipleEntries {
-			return fmt.Errorf("Trying to untar an archive with multiple entries to an inexistant target `%s`: did you mean `%s` instead?", dest, filepath.Dir(dest))
-		}
-
 		// Normalize name, for safety and for a simple is-root check
 		hdr.Name = filepath.Clean(hdr.Name)
 
@@ -446,12 +423,7 @@ func Untar(archive io.Reader, dest string, options *TarOptions) error {
 			}
 		}
 
-		var path string
-		if create {
-			path = dest // we are renaming hdr.Name to dest
-		} else {
-			path = filepath.Join(dest, hdr.Name)
-		}
+		path := filepath.Join(dest, hdr.Name)
 
 		// If path exits we almost always just want to remove and replace it
 		// The only exception is when it is a directory *and* the file from
@@ -467,14 +439,10 @@ func Untar(archive io.Reader, dest string, options *TarOptions) error {
 				}
 			}
 		}
-
 		if err := createTarFile(path, dest, hdr, tr, options == nil || !options.NoLchown); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		// Successfully added an entry. Predicting multiple entries for next iteration (not current one).
-		multipleEntries = true
-
 		// Directory mtimes must be handled at the end to avoid further
 		// file creation in them to modify the directory mtime
 		if hdr.Typeflag == tar.TypeDir {
diff --git a/components/engine/archive/archive_test.go b/components/engine/archive/archive_test.go
index 1b5e146965..61ee0af8e7 100644
--- a/components/engine/archive/archive_test.go
+++ b/components/engine/archive/archive_test.go
@@ -160,47 +160,6 @@ func TestTarWithOptions(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestTarUntarFile(t *testing.T) {
-	origin, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "docker-test-untar-origin-file")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer os.RemoveAll(origin)
-
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(path.Join(origin, "before"), 0700); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(path.Join(origin, "after"), 0700); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(path.Join(origin, "before", "file"), []byte("hello world"), 0700); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(path.Join(origin, "after", "file2"), []byte("please overwrite me"), 0700); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	tar, err := TarWithOptions(path.Join(origin, "before"), &TarOptions{Compression: Uncompressed, Includes: []string{"file"}})
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if err := Untar(tar, path.Join(origin, "after", "file2"), nil); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	catCmd := exec.Command("cat", path.Join(origin, "after", "file2"))
-	out, err := CmdStream(catCmd, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Failed to start command: %s", err)
-	}
-	if output, err := ioutil.ReadAll(out); err != nil {
-		t.Error(err)
-	} else if string(output) != "hello world" {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected 'hello world', got '%s'", output)
-	}
-}
-
 // Some tar archives such as http://haproxy.1wt.eu/download/1.5/src/devel/haproxy-1.5-dev21.tar.gz
 // use PAX Global Extended Headers.
 // Failing prevents the archives from being uncompressed during ADD
diff --git a/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/1/Dockerfile b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/1/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2091b0e4d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/1/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+FROM busybox
+ADD test.tar /test.tar
+RUN cat /test.tar/test/foo
diff --git a/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/1/test.tar b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/1/test.tar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33639c6476
Binary files /dev/null and b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/1/test.tar differ
diff --git a/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/2/Dockerfile b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/2/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..830e9ddbee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/2/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+FROM busybox
+ADD test.tar /
+RUN cat /test/foo
diff --git a/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/2/test.tar b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/2/test.tar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33639c6476
Binary files /dev/null and b/components/engine/integration-cli/build_tests/TestBuildAddTar/2/test.tar differ
diff --git a/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_build_test.go b/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_build_test.go
index df0cfcc88e..039423e06c 100644
--- a/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_build_test.go
+++ b/components/engine/integration-cli/docker_cli_build_test.go
@@ -1731,3 +1731,35 @@ RUN [ "$(cat /testfile)" = 'test!' ]`
 	}
 	logDone("build - add and run script")
 }
+
+func TestBuildAddTar(t *testing.T) {
+
+	checkOutput := func(out string) {
+		n := -1
+		x := ""
+		for i, line := range strings.Split(out, "\n") {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(line, "Step 2") {
+				n = i + 2
+				x = line[strings.Index(line, "cat ")+4:]
+			}
+			if i == n {
+				if line != "Hi" {
+					t.Fatalf("Could not find contents of %s (expected 'Hi' got '%s'", x, line)
+				}
+				n = -2
+			}
+		}
+		if n > -2 {
+			t.Fatalf("Could not find contents of %s in build output", x)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, n := range []string{"1", "2"} {
+		buildDirectory := filepath.Join(workingDirectory, "build_tests", "TestBuildAddTar", n)
+		buildCmd := exec.Command(dockerBinary, "build", "-t", "testbuildaddtar", ".")
+		buildCmd.Dir = buildDirectory
+		out, _, err := runCommandWithOutput(buildCmd)
+		errorOut(err, t, fmt.Sprintf("build failed to complete for TestBuildAddTar/%s: %v", n, err))
+		checkOutput(out)
+	}
+}