diff --git a/archive/tar/reader.go b/archive/tar/reader.go
index a89957e..f817956 100644
--- a/archive/tar/reader.go
+++ b/archive/tar/reader.go
@@ -154,44 +154,60 @@ func (tr *Reader) Next() (*Header, error) {
 		}
 		return hdr, nil
 	case TypeGNULongName:
+		var b *bytes.Buffer
+		if tr.RawAccounting {
+			b = bytes.NewBuffer(tr.RawBytes())
+		}
 		// We have a GNU long name header. Its contents are the real file name.
 		realname, err := ioutil.ReadAll(tr)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		var b []byte
 		if tr.RawAccounting {
+			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(b.Bytes()); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(realname); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
-			b = tr.RawBytes()
+			b.Reset()
+			b.Write(tr.RawBytes())
 		}
 		hdr, err := tr.Next()
 		// since the above call to Next() resets the buffer, we need to throw the bytes over
 		if tr.RawAccounting {
-			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(b); err != nil {
+			b.Write(tr.RawBytes())
+			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(b.Bytes()); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 		}
 		hdr.Name = cString(realname)
 		return hdr, err
 	case TypeGNULongLink:
+		var b *bytes.Buffer
+		if tr.RawAccounting {
+			b = bytes.NewBuffer(tr.RawBytes())
+		}
 		// We have a GNU long link header.
 		realname, err := ioutil.ReadAll(tr)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		var b []byte
 		if tr.RawAccounting {
+			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(b.Bytes()); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
 			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(realname); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
-			b = tr.RawBytes()
+			b.Reset()
+			b.Write(tr.RawBytes())
 		}
 		hdr, err := tr.Next()
 		// since the above call to Next() resets the buffer, we need to throw the bytes over
 		if tr.RawAccounting {
-			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(b); err != nil {
+			b.Write(tr.RawBytes())
+			if _, err = tr.rawBytes.Write(b.Bytes()); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/tar/asm/assemble_test.go b/tar/asm/assemble_test.go
index 7cf44dc..e37d7f3 100644
--- a/tar/asm/assemble_test.go
+++ b/tar/asm/assemble_test.go
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ func TestTarStreamMangledGetterPutter(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestTarStream(t *testing.T) {
 	var (
-		expectedSum        = "1eb237ff69bca6e22789ecb05b45d35ca307adbd"
-		expectedSize int64 = 10240
+		expectedSHA1Sum       = "1eb237ff69bca6e22789ecb05b45d35ca307adbd"
+		expectedSize    int64 = 10240
 	)
 
 	fh, err := os.Open("./testdata/t.tar.gz")
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ func TestTarStream(t *testing.T) {
 	if i != expectedSize {
 		t.Errorf("size of tar: expected %d; got %d", expectedSize, i)
 	}
-	if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h0.Sum(nil)) != expectedSum {
-		t.Fatalf("checksum of tar: expected %s; got %x", expectedSum, h0.Sum(nil))
+	if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h0.Sum(nil)) != expectedSHA1Sum {
+		t.Fatalf("checksum of tar: expected %s; got %x", expectedSHA1Sum, h0.Sum(nil))
 	}
 
 	t.Logf("%s", w.String()) // if we fail, then show the packed info
@@ -175,7 +175,75 @@ func TestTarStream(t *testing.T) {
 	if i != expectedSize {
 		t.Errorf("size of output tar: expected %d; got %d", expectedSize, i)
 	}
-	if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h1.Sum(nil)) != expectedSum {
-		t.Fatalf("checksum of output tar: expected %s; got %x", expectedSum, h1.Sum(nil))
+	if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h1.Sum(nil)) != expectedSHA1Sum {
+		t.Fatalf("checksum of output tar: expected %s; got %x", expectedSHA1Sum, h1.Sum(nil))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTarGNUTar(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		expectedSHA1Sum       = "d9f6babe107b7247953dff6b5b5ae31a3a880add"
+		expectedSize    int64 = 20480
+	)
+
+	fh, err := os.Open("./testdata/longlink.tar.gz")
+	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 != expectedSize {
+		t.Errorf("size of tar: expected %d; got %d", expectedSize, i)
+	}
+	if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h0.Sum(nil)) != expectedSHA1Sum {
+		t.Fatalf("checksum of tar: expected %s; got %x", expectedSHA1Sum, h0.Sum(nil))
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("%s", w.String()) // if we fail, then show the packed info
+
+	// If we've made it this far, then we'll turn it around and create a tar
+	// stream from the packed metadata and buffered file contents.
+	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 != expectedSize {
+		t.Errorf("size of output tar: expected %d; got %d", expectedSize, i)
+	}
+	if fmt.Sprintf("%x", h1.Sum(nil)) != expectedSHA1Sum {
+		t.Fatalf("checksum of output tar: expected %s; got %x", expectedSHA1Sum, h1.Sum(nil))
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tar/asm/disassemble.go b/tar/asm/disassemble.go
index 4a8ed94..7986890 100644
--- a/tar/asm/disassemble.go
+++ b/tar/asm/disassemble.go
@@ -55,13 +55,15 @@ func NewInputTarStream(r io.Reader, p storage.Packer, fp storage.FilePutter) (io
 				}
 				// even when an EOF is reached, there is often 1024 null bytes on
 				// the end of an archive. Collect them too.
-				_, err := p.AddEntry(storage.Entry{
-					Type:    storage.SegmentType,
-					Payload: tr.RawBytes(),
-				})
-				if err != nil {
-					pW.CloseWithError(err)
-					return
+				if b := tr.RawBytes(); len(b) > 0 {
+					_, err := p.AddEntry(storage.Entry{
+						Type:    storage.SegmentType,
+						Payload: b,
+					})
+					if err != nil {
+						pW.CloseWithError(err)
+						return
+					}
 				}
 				break // not return. We need the end of the reader.
 			}
@@ -69,12 +71,15 @@ func NewInputTarStream(r io.Reader, p storage.Packer, fp storage.FilePutter) (io
 				break // not return. We need the end of the reader.
 			}
 
-			if _, err := p.AddEntry(storage.Entry{
-				Type:    storage.SegmentType,
-				Payload: tr.RawBytes(),
-			}); err != nil {
-				pW.CloseWithError(err)
-				return
+			if b := tr.RawBytes(); len(b) > 0 {
+				_, err := p.AddEntry(storage.Entry{
+					Type:    storage.SegmentType,
+					Payload: b,
+				})
+				if err != nil {
+					pW.CloseWithError(err)
+					return
+				}
 			}
 
 			var csum []byte
diff --git a/tar/asm/testdata/longlink.tar.gz b/tar/asm/testdata/longlink.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb21db5
Binary files /dev/null and b/tar/asm/testdata/longlink.tar.gz differ