diff --git a/lib/chibi/tar.scm b/lib/chibi/tar.scm
index 358222f0..118149c4 100644
--- a/lib/chibi/tar.scm
+++ b/lib/chibi/tar.scm
@@ -76,21 +76,24 @@
   (let ((in (cond ((string? src) (open-binary-input-file src))
                   ((bytevector? src) (open-input-bytevector src))
                   (else src))))
-    (let lp ((acc knil))
+    (let lp ((acc knil) (empty 0))
       (cond
-       ((eof-object? (peek-u8 in))
+       ((or (eof-object? (peek-u8 in)) (>= empty 2))
         (close-input-port in)
         acc)
        (else
-        (let* ((tar (read-tar in))
-               (bv (read-modulo-bytevector in (tar-size tar) 512)))
-          (lp (kons tar bv acc))))))))
+        (let ((tar (read-tar in)))
+          (if (and (equal? "" (tar-path tar)) (zero? (tar-size tar)))
+              (lp acc (+ empty 1))
+              (let ((bv (read-modulo-bytevector in (tar-size tar) 512)))
+                (lp (kons tar bv acc) 0)))))))))
 
 ;; not a tar-bomb and no absolute paths
 (define (tar-safe? tarball)
   (define (path-top path)
     (substring path 0 (string-find path #\/)))
   (let ((files (map path-normalize (tar-files tarball))))
+    (log-error "files: " files)
     (and (every path-relative? files)
          (or (< (length files) 2)
              (let ((dir (path-top (car files))))