diff --git a/doc/tar.texi b/doc/tar.texi

index d70d113..a0e3d5f 100644

--- a/doc/tar.texi

+++ b/doc/tar.texi

@@ -1881,6 +1881,7 @@ The other operations of @command{tar} (@option{--list},

 @option{--extract}, @option{--compare}, and @option{--update})

 will act on the entire contents of the archive.

+@anchor{exit status}

 @cindex exit status

 @cindex return status

 Besides successful exits, @GNUTAR{} may fail for

@@ -2815,7 +2816,10 @@ when extracting files from an archive.

 @item --keep-old-files

 @itemx -k

-Do not overwrite existing files when extracting files from an archive.

+Do not overwrite existing files when extracting files from an

+archive.  Return error if such files exist.  See also

+@ref{--skip-old-files}.

+

 @xref{Keep Old Files}.

 @opsummary{label}

@@ -3268,6 +3272,20 @@ the archive creation operations it instructs @command{tar} to list the

 member names stored in the archive, as opposed to the actual file

 names.  @xref{listing member and file names}.

+@opsummary{skip-old-files}

+@item --skip-old-files

+

+Do not overwrite existing files when extracting files from an

+archive.  @xref{Keep Old Files}.

+

+This option differs from @option{--keep-old-files} in that it does not

+treat such files as an error, instead it just silently avoids

+overwriting them.

+

+The @option{--warning=existing-file} option can be used together with

+this option to produce warning messages about existing old files

+(@pxref{warnings}).

+

 @opsummary{sparse}

 @item --sparse

 @itemx -S

@@ -4443,11 +4461,11 @@ in the archive; the most recently archived members will be extracted

 last.  Additionally, an extracted member will @emph{replace} a file of

 the same name which existed in the directory already, and @command{tar}

 will not prompt you about this@footnote{Unless you give it

-@option{--keep-old-files} option, or the disk copy is newer than

-the one in the archive and you invoke @command{tar} with

-@option{--keep-newer-files} option.}.  Thus, only the most recently archived

-member will end up being extracted, as it will replace the one

-extracted before it, and so on.

+@option{--keep-old-files} (or @option{--skip-old-files}) option, or

+the disk copy is newer than the one in the archive and you invoke

+@command{tar} with @option{--keep-newer-files} option.}.  Thus, only

+the most recently archived member will end up being extracted, as it

+will replace the one extracted before it, and so on.

 @cindex extracting @var{n}th copy of the file

 @xopindex{occurrence, described}

@@ -5123,10 +5141,25 @@ such a directory, use the @option{--no-overwrite-dir} option.

 @cindex Overwriting old files, prevention

 @xopindex{keep-old-files, introduced}

 To be even more cautious and prevent existing files from being replaced, use

-the @option{--keep-old-files} (@option{-k}) option.  It causes @command{tar} to refuse

-to replace or update a file that already exists, i.e., a file with the

-same name as an archive member prevents extraction of that archive

-member.  Instead, it reports an error.

+the @option{--keep-old-files} (@option{-k}) option.  It causes

+@command{tar} to refuse to replace or update a file that already

+exists, i.e., a file with the same name as an archive member prevents

+extraction of that archive member.  Instead, it reports an error.  For

+example:

+

+@example

+$ @kbd{ls}

+blues

+$ @kbd{tar -x -k -f archive.tar}

+tar: blues: Cannot open: File exists

+tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

+@end example

+

+@xopindex{skip-old-files, introduced}

+If you wish to preserve old files untouched, but don't want

+@command{tar} to treat them as errors, use the

+@option{--skip-old-files} option.  This option causes @command{tar} to

+silently skip extracting over existing files.

 @xopindex{overwrite, introduced}

 To be more aggressive about altering existing files, use the

@@ -5192,16 +5225,24 @@ archive, but remove other files before extracting.

 @node Keep Old Files

 @unnumberedsubsubsec Keep Old Files

+@GNUTAR{} provides two options to control its actions in a situation

+when it is about to extract a file which already exists on disk.

+

 @table @option

 @opindex keep-old-files

 @item --keep-old-files

 @itemx -k

-Do not replace existing files from archive.  The

-@option{--keep-old-files} (@option{-k}) option prevents @command{tar}

-from replacing existing files with files with the same name from the

-archive. The @option{--keep-old-files} option is meaningless with

-@option{--list} (@option{-t}).  Prevents @command{tar} from replacing

-files in the file system during extraction.

+Do not replace existing files from archive.  When such a file is

+encountered, @command{tar} issues an error message.  Upon end of

+extraction, @command{tar} exits with code 2 (@pxref{exit status}).

+

+@item --skip-old-files

+Do not replace existing files from archive, but do not treat that

+as error.  Such files are silently skipped and do not affect

+@command{tar} exit status.

+

+Additional verbosity can be obtained using @option{--warning=existing-file}

+together with that option (@pxref{warnings}).

 @end table

 @node Keep Newer Files

diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h

index 0b9bd7a..2409413 100644

--- a/src/common.h

+++ b/src/common.h

@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ enum old_files

   OVERWRITE_OLD_FILES,        /* --overwrite */

   UNLINK_FIRST_OLD_FILES,     /* --unlink-first */

   KEEP_OLD_FILES,             /* --keep-old-files */

+  SKIP_OLD_FILES,             /* --skip-old-files */

   KEEP_NEWER_FILES	      /* --keep-newer-files */

 };

 GLOBAL enum old_files old_files_option;

@@ -807,11 +808,12 @@ void checkpoint_run (bool do_write);

 #define WARN_UNKNOWN_KEYWORD     0x00020000

 #define WARN_XDEV                0x00040000

 #define WARN_DECOMPRESS_PROGRAM  0x00080000

+#define WARN_EXISTING_FILE       0x00100000

 /* The warnings composing WARN_VERBOSE_WARNINGS are enabled by default

    in verbose mode */

 #define WARN_VERBOSE_WARNINGS    (WARN_RENAME_DIRECTORY|WARN_NEW_DIRECTORY|\

-				  WARN_DECOMPRESS_PROGRAM)

+				  WARN_DECOMPRESS_PROGRAM|WARN_EXISTING_FILE)

 #define WARN_ALL                 (~WARN_VERBOSE_WARNINGS)

 void set_warning_option (const char *arg);

diff --git a/src/extract.c b/src/extract.c

index aaea56e..662ea0b 100644

--- a/src/extract.c

+++ b/src/extract.c

@@ -639,9 +639,14 @@ maybe_recoverable (char *file_name, bool regular, bool *interdir_made)

       switch (old_files_option)

 	{

-	case KEEP_OLD_FILES:

+	case SKIP_OLD_FILES:

+	  WARNOPT (WARN_EXISTING_FILE,

+		   (0, 0, _("%s: skipping existing file"), file_name));

 	  return RECOVER_SKIP;

+	case KEEP_OLD_FILES:

+	  return RECOVER_NO;

+

 	case KEEP_NEWER_FILES:

 	  if (file_newer_p (file_name, stp, &current_stat_info))

 	    break;

diff --git a/src/tar.c b/src/tar.c

index 7b62996..7a673e0 100644

--- a/src/tar.c

+++ b/src/tar.c

@@ -328,6 +328,7 @@ enum

   SHOW_DEFAULTS_OPTION,

   SHOW_OMITTED_DIRS_OPTION,

   SHOW_TRANSFORMED_NAMES_OPTION,

+  SKIP_OLD_FILES_OPTION,

   SPARSE_VERSION_OPTION,

   STRIP_COMPONENTS_OPTION,

   SUFFIX_OPTION,

@@ -452,7 +453,11 @@ static struct argp_option options[] = {

   {"remove-files", REMOVE_FILES_OPTION, 0, 0,

    N_("remove files after adding them to the archive"), GRID+1 },

   {"keep-old-files", 'k', 0, 0,

-   N_("don't replace existing files when extracting"), GRID+1 },

+   N_("don't replace existing files when extracting, "

+      "treat them as errors"), GRID+1 },

+  {"skip-old-files", SKIP_OLD_FILES_OPTION, 0, 0,

+   N_("don't replace existing files when extracting, silently skip over them"),

+   GRID+1 },

   {"keep-newer-files", KEEP_NEWER_FILES_OPTION, 0, 0,

    N_("don't replace existing files that are newer than their archive copies"), GRID+1 },

   {"overwrite", OVERWRITE_OPTION, 0, 0,

@@ -1618,6 +1623,10 @@ parse_opt (int key, char *arg, struct argp_state *state)

       sparse_option = true;

       break;

+    case SKIP_OLD_FILES_OPTION:

+      old_files_option = SKIP_OLD_FILES;

+      break;

+

     case SPARSE_VERSION_OPTION:

       sparse_option = true;

       {

diff --git a/src/warning.c b/src/warning.c

index 5d1bcab..ee9d684 100644

--- a/src/warning.c

+++ b/src/warning.c

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ static char const *const warning_args[] = {

   "unknown-keyword",

   "xdev",

   "decompress-program",

+  "existing-file",

   NULL

 };

@@ -66,7 +67,8 @@ static int warning_types[] = {

   WARN_UNKNOWN_CAST,

   WARN_UNKNOWN_KEYWORD,

   WARN_XDEV,

-  WARN_DECOMPRESS_PROGRAM

+  WARN_DECOMPRESS_PROGRAM,

+  WARN_EXISTING_FILE,

 };

 ARGMATCH_VERIFY (warning_args, warning_types);

diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am

index 119f1f3..3d78ea2 100644

--- a/tests/Makefile.am

+++ b/tests/Makefile.am

@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ TESTSUITE_AT = \

  extrac07.at\

  extrac08.at\

  extrac09.at\

+ extrac18.at\

+ extrac19.at\

  extrac10.at\

  extrac11.at\

  extrac12.at\

diff --git a/tests/extrac18.at b/tests/extrac18.at

new file mode 100644

index 0000000..8b42ef7

--- /dev/null

+++ b/tests/extrac18.at

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@

+# Process this file with autom4te to create testsuite. -*- Autotest -*-

+#

+# Test suite for GNU tar.

+# Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

+#

+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify

+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option)

+# any later version.

+#

+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

+# GNU General Public License for more details.

+#

+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

+

+# Description: Check the functionality of the --keep-old-files option.

+# It should report an error and cause tar to exit with status 2.

+#

+# There was a regression in versions 1.23 to 1.26 inclusive, where

+# this option silently skipped such files.

+# Reported by: Doug McLaren <dougmc@frenzied.us>,

+#              Gary Partis <gary@partis.co.uk>,

+#              Jim Meyering <jim@meyering.net>

+#              

+# References: <20111117045433.GA8245@algol.frenzied.us>,

+#             <4F3D824717847C4487F77228F83329A3514CBB@server.Partis.local>,

+#             <87wrar6zzz.fsf@rho.meyering.net>

+

+AT_SETUP([keep-old-files])

+AT_KEYWORDS([extract extrac18 old-files keep-old-files])

+

+AT_TAR_CHECK([

+mkdir dir

+cd dir

+echo 'Old file a' > a

+echo 'Old file b' > b

+

+tar cf ../archive .

+

+rm b

+echo 'File a' > a

+

+tar -x -k -f ../archive

+echo status=$?

+

+cat a

+],

+[0],

+[status=2

+File a

+],

+[tar: ./a: Cannot open: File exists

+tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

+])

+

+AT_CLEANUP

+

diff --git a/tests/extrac19.at b/tests/extrac19.at

new file mode 100644

index 0000000..43c4c50

--- /dev/null

+++ b/tests/extrac19.at

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@

+# Process this file with autom4te to create testsuite. -*- Autotest -*-

+#

+# Test suite for GNU tar.

+# Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

+#

+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify

+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option)

+# any later version.

+#

+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

+# GNU General Public License for more details.

+#

+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

+

+AT_SETUP([skip-old-files])

+AT_KEYWORDS([extract extrac19 old-files skip-old-files])

+

+AT_TAR_CHECK([

+mkdir dir

+cd dir

+echo 'Old file a' > a

+echo 'Old file b' > b

+

+tar cf ../archive .

+

+rm b

+echo 'File a' > a

+

+tar -x --skip-old-files -f ../archive

+echo status=$?

+

+cat a

+],

+[0],

+[status=0

+File a

+])

+

+AT_CLEANUP

+

diff --git a/tests/testsuite.at b/tests/testsuite.at

index d1dab36..e43653e 100644

--- a/tests/testsuite.at

+++ b/tests/testsuite.at

@@ -166,6 +166,9 @@ m4_include([extrac15.at])

 m4_include([extrac16.at])

 m4_include([extrac17.at])

+m4_include([extrac18.at])

+m4_include([extrac19.at])

+

 m4_include([label01.at])

 m4_include([label02.at])

 m4_include([label03.at])