diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/astreamer_inject.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/astreamer_inject.c
index 14a96733bad..a5dff0ac1c6 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/astreamer_inject.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/astreamer_inject.c
@@ -224,8 +224,9 @@ astreamer_inject_file(astreamer *streamer, char *pathname, char *data,
 	strlcpy(member.pathname, pathname, MAXPGPATH);
 	member.size = len;
 	member.mode = pg_file_create_mode;
+	member.is_regular = true;
 	member.is_directory = false;
-	member.is_link = false;
+	member.is_symlink = false;
 	member.linktarget[0] = '\0';
 
 	/*
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c
index 26c98186530..99bd69ce7c9 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ member_verify_header(astreamer *streamer, astreamer_member *member)
 	char		pathname[MAXPGPATH];
 
 	/* We are only interested in normal files. */
-	if (member->is_directory || member->is_link)
+	if (!member->is_regular)
 		return;
 
 	/*
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_waldump/archive_waldump.c b/src/bin/pg_waldump/archive_waldump.c
index ff1cc3fa5f0..e4a4bf44a7e 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_waldump/archive_waldump.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_waldump/archive_waldump.c
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ member_is_wal_file(astreamer_waldump *mystreamer, astreamer_member *member,
 	char	   *filename;
 
 	/* We are only interested in normal files */
-	if (member->is_directory || member->is_link)
+	if (!member->is_regular)
 		return false;
 
 	if (strlen(member->pathname) < XLOG_FNAME_LEN)
diff --git a/src/fe_utils/astreamer_file.c b/src/fe_utils/astreamer_file.c
index 158e9a14f2c..0fca70a4f86 100644
--- a/src/fe_utils/astreamer_file.c
+++ b/src/fe_utils/astreamer_file.c
@@ -228,9 +228,13 @@ astreamer_extractor_content(astreamer *streamer, astreamer_member *member,
 				mystreamer->filename[fnamelen - 1] = '\0';
 
 			/* Dispatch based on file type. */
-			if (member->is_directory)
+			if (member->is_regular)
+				mystreamer->file =
+					create_file_for_extract(mystreamer->filename,
+											member->mode);
+			else if (member->is_directory)
 				extract_directory(mystreamer->filename, member->mode);
-			else if (member->is_link)
+			else if (member->is_symlink)
 			{
 				const char *linktarget = member->linktarget;
 
@@ -238,10 +242,6 @@ astreamer_extractor_content(astreamer *streamer, astreamer_member *member,
 					linktarget = mystreamer->link_map(linktarget);
 				extract_link(mystreamer->filename, linktarget);
 			}
-			else
-				mystreamer->file =
-					create_file_for_extract(mystreamer->filename,
-											member->mode);
 
 			/* Report output file change. */
 			if (mystreamer->report_output_file)
diff --git a/src/fe_utils/astreamer_tar.c b/src/fe_utils/astreamer_tar.c
index 3b094fc0328..3de6f8d6fb2 100644
--- a/src/fe_utils/astreamer_tar.c
+++ b/src/fe_utils/astreamer_tar.c
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ astreamer_tar_header(astreamer_tar_parser *mystreamer)
 
 	Assert(mystreamer->base.bbs_buffer.len == TAR_BLOCK_SIZE);
 
+	/* Zero out fields of *member, just for consistency. */
+	memset(member, 0, sizeof(astreamer_member));
+
 	/* Check whether we've got a block of all zero bytes. */
 	for (i = 0; i < TAR_BLOCK_SIZE; ++i)
 	{
@@ -299,12 +302,28 @@ astreamer_tar_header(astreamer_tar_parser *mystreamer)
 	member->mode = read_tar_number(&buffer[TAR_OFFSET_MODE], 8);
 	member->uid = read_tar_number(&buffer[TAR_OFFSET_UID], 8);
 	member->gid = read_tar_number(&buffer[TAR_OFFSET_GID], 8);
-	member->is_directory =
-		(buffer[TAR_OFFSET_TYPEFLAG] == TAR_FILETYPE_DIRECTORY);
-	member->is_link =
-		(buffer[TAR_OFFSET_TYPEFLAG] == TAR_FILETYPE_SYMLINK);
-	if (member->is_link)
-		strlcpy(member->linktarget, &buffer[TAR_OFFSET_LINKNAME], 100);
+
+	switch (buffer[TAR_OFFSET_TYPEFLAG])
+	{
+		case TAR_FILETYPE_PLAIN:
+		case '\0':				/* backwards compatibility hack, per POSIX */
+			member->is_regular = true;
+			break;
+		case TAR_FILETYPE_DIRECTORY:
+			member->is_directory = true;
+			break;
+		case TAR_FILETYPE_SYMLINK:
+			member->is_symlink = true;
+			strlcpy(member->linktarget, &buffer[TAR_OFFSET_LINKNAME], 100);
+			break;
+		case TAR_FILETYPE_PAX_EXTENDED:
+		case TAR_FILETYPE_PAX_EXTENDED_GLOBAL:
+			pg_fatal("pax extensions to tar format are not supported");
+			break;
+		default:
+			/* For special files, set none of the three is_xxx flags */
+			break;
+	}
 
 	/* Compute number of padding bytes. */
 	mystreamer->pad_bytes_expected = tarPaddingBytesRequired(member->size);
diff --git a/src/include/fe_utils/astreamer.h b/src/include/fe_utils/astreamer.h
index f370ef62720..8329e4efbc5 100644
--- a/src/include/fe_utils/astreamer.h
+++ b/src/include/fe_utils/astreamer.h
@@ -83,8 +83,10 @@ typedef struct
 	mode_t		mode;
 	uid_t		uid;
 	gid_t		gid;
+	/* note: special filetypes will set none of these flags */
+	bool		is_regular;
 	bool		is_directory;
-	bool		is_link;
+	bool		is_symlink;
 	char		linktarget[MAXPGPATH];
 } astreamer_member;
 
diff --git a/src/include/pgtar.h b/src/include/pgtar.h
index eb93bdef5c4..d6c434e09b0 100644
--- a/src/include/pgtar.h
+++ b/src/include/pgtar.h
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ enum tarFileType
 	TAR_FILETYPE_PLAIN = '0',
 	TAR_FILETYPE_SYMLINK = '2',
 	TAR_FILETYPE_DIRECTORY = '5',
+	TAR_FILETYPE_PAX_EXTENDED = 'x',
+	TAR_FILETYPE_PAX_EXTENDED_GLOBAL = 'g',
 };
 
 extern enum tarError tarCreateHeader(char *h, const char *filename,