diff --git a/tar/asm/assemble_test.go b/tar/asm/assemble_test.go
index 3d0c99c..817f740 100644
--- a/tar/asm/assemble_test.go
+++ b/tar/asm/assemble_test.go
@@ -130,6 +130,73 @@ func TestTarStreamMangledGetterPutter(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestTarSparseFiles(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		path            string
+		expectedSHA1Sum string
+		expectedSize    int64
+	}{
+		{"./testdata/sparse.tar.gz", "562541bfd9b1ac8c8cc6cedcf80c2eeeaa6bb9d7", 5253120},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		fh, err := os.Open(tc.path)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		defer fh.Close()
+		gzRdr, err := gzip.NewReader(fh)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		defer gzRdr.Close()
+
+		// Setup where we'll store the metadata
+		w := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
+		sp := storage.NewJSONPacker(w)
+		fgp := storage.NewBufferFileGetPutter()
+
+		// wrap the disassembly stream
+		tarStream, err := NewInputTarStream(gzRdr, sp, fgp)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// get a sum of the stream after it has passed through to ensure it's the same.
+		h0 := sha1.New()
+		tRdr0 := io.TeeReader(tarStream, h0)
+
+		// read it all to the bit bucket
+		i, err := io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, tRdr0)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if i != tc.expectedSize {
+			t.Errorf("size of tar %q: expected %d; got %d", tc.path, tc.expectedSize, i)
+		}
+		if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h0.Sum(nil)) != tc.expectedSHA1Sum {
+			t.Fatalf("checksum of tar %q: expected %s; got %x", tc.path, tc.expectedSHA1Sum, h0.Sum(nil))
+		}
+		r := bytes.NewBuffer(w.Bytes())
+		sup := storage.NewJSONUnpacker(r)
+		// and reuse the fgp that we Put the payloads to.
+
+		rc := NewOutputTarStream(fgp, sup)
+		h1 := sha1.New()
+		i, err = io.Copy(h1, rc)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		if i != tc.expectedSize {
+			t.Errorf("size of output tar %q: expected %d; got %d", tc.path, tc.expectedSize, i)
+		}
+		if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h1.Sum(nil)) != tc.expectedSHA1Sum {
+			t.Fatalf("checksum of output tar %q: expected %s; got %x", tc.path, tc.expectedSHA1Sum, h1.Sum(nil))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestTarStream(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		path            string
@@ -176,10 +243,10 @@ func TestTarStream(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		if i != tc.expectedSize {
-			t.Errorf("size of tar: expected %d; got %d", tc.expectedSize, i)
+			t.Errorf("size of tar %q: expected %d; got %d", tc.path, tc.expectedSize, i)
 		}
 		if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h0.Sum(nil)) != tc.expectedSHA1Sum {
-			t.Fatalf("checksum of tar: expected %s; got %x", tc.expectedSHA1Sum, h0.Sum(nil))
+			t.Fatalf("checksum of tar %q: expected %s; got %x", tc.path, tc.expectedSHA1Sum, h0.Sum(nil))
 		}
 
 		//t.Logf("%s", w.String()) // if we fail, then show the packed info
@@ -198,10 +265,10 @@ func TestTarStream(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		if i != tc.expectedSize {
-			t.Errorf("size of output tar: expected %d; got %d", tc.expectedSize, i)
+			t.Errorf("size of output tar %q: expected %d; got %d", tc.path, tc.expectedSize, i)
 		}
 		if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h1.Sum(nil)) != tc.expectedSHA1Sum {
-			t.Fatalf("checksum of output tar: expected %s; got %x", tc.expectedSHA1Sum, h1.Sum(nil))
+			t.Fatalf("checksum of output tar %q: expected %s; got %x", tc.path, tc.expectedSHA1Sum, h1.Sum(nil))
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tar/asm/disassemble.go b/tar/asm/disassemble.go
index 54ef23a..b4d5a6b 100644
--- a/tar/asm/disassemble.go
+++ b/tar/asm/disassemble.go
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package asm
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/vbatts/tar-split/archive/tar"
 	"github.com/vbatts/tar-split/tar/storage"
@@ -92,6 +94,15 @@ func NewInputTarStream(r io.Reader, p storage.Packer, fp storage.FilePutter) (io
 				}
 			}
 
+			if hdr.Typeflag == tar.TypeGNUSparse {
+				e := storage.Entry{
+					Type: storage.SparseFileType,
+				}
+				fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "WHOOP")
+				e.SetName(hdr.Name)
+				_, err = p.AddEntry(e)
+			}
+
 			entry := storage.Entry{
 				Type:    storage.FileType,
 				Size:    hdr.Size,
diff --git a/tar/asm/testdata/sparse.tar.gz b/tar/asm/testdata/sparse.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d1ac68
Binary files /dev/null and b/tar/asm/testdata/sparse.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tar/storage/entry.go b/tar/storage/entry.go
index c91e7ea..6a8bae3 100644
--- a/tar/storage/entry.go
+++ b/tar/storage/entry.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ const (
 	//
 	// Its payload is to be marshalled base64 encoded.
 	SegmentType
+	SparseFileType
 )
 
 // Entry is the structure for packing and unpacking the information read from