diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/tar/TarEntry.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/tar/TarEntry.java
index a066f08d5..ef670417c 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/tar/TarEntry.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/tar/TarEntry.java
@@ -177,6 +177,12 @@ public class TarEntry implements TarConstants {
         this.groupName = new StringBuffer("");
         this.devMajor = 0;
         this.devMinor = 0;
+
+        if (this.name.length() > NAMELEN) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("file name '" + this.name 
+                                             + "' is too long ( > " 
+                                             + NAMELEN + " bytes)");
+        } 
     }   
         
     /**