diff --git a/Lib/tarfile.py b/Lib/tarfile.py
index 54a2606..a87fe22 100644
--- a/Lib/tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tarfile.py
@@ -1918,13 +1918,16 @@
                     print "link to", tarinfo.linkname,
             print
 
-    def add(self, name, arcname=None, recursive=True, exclude=None):
+    def add(self, name, arcname=None, recursive=True, exclude=None, filter=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. `exclude' is a function that should
-           return True for each filename to be excluded.
+           return True for each filename to be excluded. `filter' is a function
+           that expects a TarInfo object argument and returns the changed
+           TarInfo object, if it returns None the TarInfo object will be
+           excluded from the archive.
         """
         self._check("aw")
 
@@ -1932,9 +1935,13 @@
             arcname = name
 
         # Exclude pathnames.
-        if exclude is not None and exclude(name):
-            self._dbg(2, "tarfile: Excluded %r" % name)
-            return
+        if exclude is not None:
+            import warnings
+            warnings.warn("use the filter argument instead",
+                    DeprecationWarning, 2)
+            if 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:
@@ -1950,6 +1957,13 @@
             self._dbg(1, "tarfile: Unsupported type %r" % name)
             return
 
+        # Change or exclude the TarInfo object.
+        if filter is not None:
+            tarinfo = filter(tarinfo)
+            if tarinfo is None:
+                self._dbg(2, "tarfile: Excluded %r" % name)
+                return
+
         # Append the tar header and data to the archive.
         if tarinfo.isreg():
             f = bltn_open(name, "rb")
@@ -1960,7 +1974,8 @@
             self.addfile(tarinfo)
             if recursive:
                 for f in os.listdir(name):
-                    self.add(os.path.join(name, f), os.path.join(arcname, f), recursive, exclude)
+                    self.add(os.path.join(name, f), os.path.join(arcname, f),
+                            recursive, exclude, filter)
 
         else:
             self.addfile(tarinfo)