diff --git a/src/tarballer.rs b/src/tarballer.rs
index a1193d4..a839847 100644
--- a/src/tarballer.rs
+++ b/src/tarballer.rs
@@ -63,7 +63,12 @@ impl Tarballer {
             }
             for path in files {
                 let src = Path::new(&self.work_dir).join(&path);
-                let src = src.canonicalize().unwrap_or_else(|_| src.to_owned());
+                let src = src
+                    .parent()
+                    .unwrap()
+                    .canonicalize()
+                    .map(|path| path.join(src.file_name().unwrap()))
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|_| src.to_owned());
                 append_path(&mut builder, &src, &path)
                     .with_context(|| format!("failed to tar file '{}'", src.display()))?;
             }