diff --git a/builtin-add.c b/builtin-add.c
index cb6e5906fb..c24c1bfa25 100644
--- a/builtin-add.c
+++ b/builtin-add.c
@@ -63,9 +63,26 @@ static void prune_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char **pathspec, int p
 	fill_pathspec_matches(pathspec, seen, specs);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < specs; i++) {
-		if (!seen[i] && pathspec[i][0] && !file_exists(pathspec[i]))
-			die("pathspec '%s' did not match any files",
-					pathspec[i]);
+		const char *match;
+		if (seen[i])
+			continue;
+		match = pathspec[i];
+		if (!match[0])
+			continue;
+
+		/* Existing file?  We must have ignored it */
+		if (file_exists(match)) {
+			int len = strlen(match);
+			int i;
+			for (i = 0; i < dir->ignored_nr; i++)
+				if (dir->ignored[i]->len == len &&
+				    !memcmp(dir->ignored[i]->name, match, len))
+					break;
+			if (dir->ignored_nr <= i)
+				dir_add_ignored(dir, match, strlen(match));
+			continue;
+		}
+		die("pathspec '%s' did not match any files", match);
 	}
         free(seen);
 }
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 00d698d79f..11d8954829 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -413,13 +413,10 @@ static struct dir_entry *dir_add_name(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *pathna
 	return dir->entries[dir->nr++] = dir_entry_new(pathname, len);
 }
 
-static struct dir_entry *dir_add_ignored(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *pathname, int len)
+void dir_add_ignored(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *pathname, int len)
 {
-	if (!cache_name_is_other(pathname, len))
-		return NULL;
-
 	ALLOC_GROW(dir->ignored, dir->ignored_nr+1, dir->ignored_alloc);
-	return dir->ignored[dir->ignored_nr++] = dir_entry_new(pathname, len);
+	dir->ignored[dir->ignored_nr++] = dir_entry_new(pathname, len);
 }
 
 enum exist_status {
@@ -638,7 +635,8 @@ static enum path_treatment treat_one_path(struct dir_struct *dir,
 {
 	int exclude = excluded(dir, path, &dtype);
 	if (exclude && (dir->flags & DIR_COLLECT_IGNORED)
-	    && in_pathspec(path, *len, simplify))
+	    && in_pathspec(path, *len, simplify)
+	    && cache_name_is_other(path, *len))
 		dir_add_ignored(dir, path, *len);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/dir.h b/dir.h
index 320b6a2f38..9bc33379cb 100644
--- a/dir.h
+++ b/dir.h
@@ -96,4 +96,6 @@ extern int remove_dir_recursively(struct strbuf *path, int flag);
 /* tries to remove the path with empty directories along it, ignores ENOENT */
 extern int remove_path(const char *path);
 
+extern void dir_add_ignored(struct dir_struct *, const char *, int);
+
 #endif