diff --git a/pkg/private/tar/tar_writer.py b/pkg/private/tar/tar_writer.py
index 06d0cad6..756fcea4 100644
--- a/pkg/private/tar/tar_writer.py
+++ b/pkg/private/tar/tar_writer.py
@@ -130,9 +130,12 @@ def _addfile(self, info, fileobj=None):
       if not info.name.endswith('/'):
         info.name += '/'
     if not self.allow_dups_from_deps and self._have_added(info.name):
+      # Directories with different contents should get merged without warnings.
+      # If they have overlapping content, the warning will be on their duplicate *files* instead
+      if info.type != tarfile.DIRTYPE:
         print('Duplicate file in archive: %s, '
               'picking first occurrence' % info.name)
-        return
+      return
 
     self.tar.addfile(info, fileobj)
     self.members.add(info.name)