diff --git a/Lib/tarfile.py b/Lib/tarfile.py
index 107041e..1ab13f0 100644
--- a/Lib/tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tarfile.py
@@ -1923,18 +1923,24 @@
                     print "link to", tarinfo.linkname,
             print
 
-    def add(self, name, arcname=None, recursive=True):
+    def add(self, name, arcname=None, recursive=True, exclude=None):
         """Add the file `name' to the archive. `name' may be any type of file
            (directory, fifo, symbolic link, etc.). If given, `arcname'
            specifies an alternative name for the file in the archive.
            Directories are added recursively by default. This can be avoided by
-           setting `recursive' to False.
+           setting `recursive' to False. `exclude' is a function that should
+           return True for each filename to be excluded.
         """
         self._check("aw")
 
         if arcname is None:
             arcname = name
 
+        # Exclude pathnames.
+        if exclude is not None and exclude(name):
+            self._dbg(2, "tarfile: Excluded %r" % name)
+            return
+
         # Skip if somebody tries to archive the archive...
         if self.name is not None and os.path.abspath(name) == self.name:
             self._dbg(2, "tarfile: Skipped %r" % name)
@@ -1947,7 +1953,7 @@
                 if arcname == ".":
                     arcname = ""
                 for f in os.listdir(name):
-                    self.add(f, os.path.join(arcname, f))
+                    self.add(f, os.path.join(arcname, f), recursive, exclude)
             return
 
         self._dbg(1, name)
@@ -1969,7 +1975,7 @@
             self.addfile(tarinfo)
             if recursive:
                 for f in os.listdir(name):
-                    self.add(os.path.join(name, f), os.path.join(arcname, f))
+                    self.add(os.path.join(name, f), os.path.join(arcname, f), recursive, exclude)
 
         else:
             self.addfile(tarinfo)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py b/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
index 67e52e9..596b0ad 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
@@ -558,6 +558,27 @@
         os.chdir(cwd)
         self.assert_(tar.getnames() == [], "added the archive to itself")
 
+    def test_exclude(self):
+        tempdir = os.path.join(TEMPDIR, "exclude")
+        os.mkdir(tempdir)
+        try:
+            for name in ("foo", "bar", "baz"):
+                name = os.path.join(tempdir, name)
+                open(name, "wb").close()
+
+            def exclude(name):
+                return os.path.isfile(name)
+
+            tar = tarfile.open(tmpname, self.mode, encoding="iso8859-1")
+            tar.add(tempdir, arcname="empty_dir", exclude=exclude)
+            tar.close()
+
+            tar = tarfile.open(tmpname, "r")
+            self.assertEqual(len(tar.getmembers()), 1)
+            self.assertEqual(tar.getnames()[0], "empty_dir")
+        finally:
+            shutil.rmtree(tempdir)
+
 
 class StreamWriteTest(unittest.TestCase):