diff --git a/doc/tools.texi b/doc/tools.texi
index c2d874ac8..6b9a9fea5 100644
--- a/doc/tools.texi
+++ b/doc/tools.texi
@@ -1971,6 +1971,11 @@ This option is passed directly to @command{gpg}.
 Write special status strings to the file descriptor @var{n}.
 See the file DETAILS in the documentation for a listing of them.
 
+@item --with-log
+@opindex with-log
+When extracting an encrypted tarball also write a log file with the
+gpg output to a file named after the extraction directory with the
+suffix ".log".
 
 @item --set-filename @var{file}
 @opindex set-filename
diff --git a/tools/gpgtar-create.c b/tools/gpgtar-create.c
index f79bc618b..e642da0b9 100644
--- a/tools/gpgtar-create.c
+++ b/tools/gpgtar-create.c
@@ -1170,7 +1170,7 @@ gpgtar_create (char **inpattern, const char *files_from, int null_names,
         ccparray_put (&ccp, "--require-compliance");
       if (opt.status_fd != -1)
         {
-          char tmpbuf[40];
+          static char tmpbuf[40];
 
           snprintf (tmpbuf, sizeof tmpbuf, "--status-fd=%d", opt.status_fd);
           ccparray_put (&ccp, tmpbuf);
diff --git a/tools/gpgtar-extract.c b/tools/gpgtar-extract.c
index 5f907733b..832039b2c 100644
--- a/tools/gpgtar-extract.c
+++ b/tools/gpgtar-extract.c
@@ -325,9 +325,46 @@ gpgtar_extract (const char *filename, int decrypt)
   struct tarinfo_s tarinfo_buffer;
   tarinfo_t tarinfo = &tarinfo_buffer;
   pid_t pid = (pid_t)(-1);
+  char *logfilename = NULL;
+
 
   memset (&tarinfo_buffer, 0, sizeof tarinfo_buffer);
 
+  if (opt.directory)
+    dirname = xtrystrdup (opt.directory);
+  else
+    {
+      if (opt.filename)
+        {
+          dirprefix = strrchr (opt.filename, '/');
+          if (dirprefix)
+            dirprefix++;
+          else
+            dirprefix = opt.filename;
+        }
+      else if (filename)
+        {
+          dirprefix = strrchr (filename, '/');
+          if (dirprefix)
+            dirprefix++;
+          else
+            dirprefix = filename;
+        }
+
+      if (!dirprefix || !*dirprefix)
+        dirprefix = "GPGARCH";
+
+      dirname = create_directory (dirprefix);
+      if (!dirname)
+        {
+          err = gpg_error (GPG_ERR_GENERAL);
+          goto leave;
+        }
+    }
+
+  if (opt.verbose)
+    log_info ("extracting to '%s/'\n", dirname);
+
   if (decrypt)
     {
       strlist_t arg;
@@ -341,11 +378,17 @@ gpgtar_extract (const char *filename, int decrypt)
         ccparray_put (&ccp, "--require-compliance");
       if (opt.status_fd != -1)
         {
-          char tmpbuf[40];
+          static char tmpbuf[40];
 
           snprintf (tmpbuf, sizeof tmpbuf, "--status-fd=%d", opt.status_fd);
           ccparray_put (&ccp, tmpbuf);
         }
+      if (opt.with_log)
+        {
+          ccparray_put (&ccp, "--log-file");
+          logfilename = xstrconcat (dirname, ".log", NULL);
+          ccparray_put (&ccp, logfilename);
+        }
       ccparray_put (&ccp, "--output");
       ccparray_put (&ccp, "-");
       ccparray_put (&ccp, "--decrypt");
@@ -396,41 +439,6 @@ gpgtar_extract (const char *filename, int decrypt)
     }
 
 
-  if (opt.directory)
-    dirname = xtrystrdup (opt.directory);
-  else
-    {
-      if (opt.filename)
-        {
-          dirprefix = strrchr (opt.filename, '/');
-          if (dirprefix)
-            dirprefix++;
-          else
-            dirprefix = opt.filename;
-        }
-      else if (filename)
-        {
-          dirprefix = strrchr (filename, '/');
-          if (dirprefix)
-            dirprefix++;
-          else
-            dirprefix = filename;
-        }
-
-      if (!dirprefix || !*dirprefix)
-        dirprefix = "GPGARCH";
-
-      dirname = create_directory (dirprefix);
-      if (!dirname)
-        {
-          err = gpg_error (GPG_ERR_GENERAL);
-          goto leave;
-        }
-    }
-
-  if (opt.verbose)
-    log_info ("extracting to '%s/'\n", dirname);
-
   for (;;)
     {
       err = gpgtar_read_header (stream, tarinfo, &header, &extheader);
@@ -470,6 +478,7 @@ gpgtar_extract (const char *filename, int decrypt)
   free_strlist (extheader);
   xfree (header);
   xfree (dirname);
+  xfree (logfilename);
   if (stream != es_stdin)
     es_fclose (stream);
   return err;
diff --git a/tools/gpgtar-list.c b/tools/gpgtar-list.c
index 9e175437b..08ab9672e 100644
--- a/tools/gpgtar-list.c
+++ b/tools/gpgtar-list.c
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ gpgtar_list (const char *filename, int decrypt)
         ccparray_put (&ccp, "--require-compliance");
       if (opt.status_fd != -1)
         {
-          char tmpbuf[40];
+          static char tmpbuf[40];
 
           snprintf (tmpbuf, sizeof tmpbuf, "--status-fd=%d", opt.status_fd);
           ccparray_put (&ccp, tmpbuf);
diff --git a/tools/gpgtar.c b/tools/gpgtar.c
index 8131c99a1..e86ed3299 100644
--- a/tools/gpgtar.c
+++ b/tools/gpgtar.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ enum cmd_and_opt_values
     oAnswerNo,
     oStatusFD,
     oRequireCompliance,
+    oWithLog,
 
     /* Compatibility with gpg-zip.  */
     oGpgArgs,
@@ -123,6 +124,7 @@ static ARGPARSE_OPTS opts[] = {
   ARGPARSE_s_n (oAnswerNo, "no", "@"),
   ARGPARSE_s_i (oStatusFD, "status-fd", "@"),
   ARGPARSE_s_n (oRequireCompliance, "require-compliance", "@"),
+  ARGPARSE_s_n (oWithLog, "with-log", "@"),
 
   ARGPARSE_group (302, N_("@\nTar options:\n ")),
 
@@ -389,6 +391,7 @@ parse_arguments (ARGPARSE_ARGS *pargs, ARGPARSE_OPTS *popts)
         case oAnswerNo: opt.answer_no = 1; break;
         case oStatusFD: opt.status_fd = pargs->r.ret_int; break;
         case oRequireCompliance: opt.require_compliance = 1; break;
+        case oWithLog: opt.with_log = 1; break;
 
         case oGpgArgs:;
           {
diff --git a/tools/gpgtar.h b/tools/gpgtar.h
index b39c1359c..9f3c90f09 100644
--- a/tools/gpgtar.h
+++ b/tools/gpgtar.h
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ struct
   int answer_no;
   int status_fd;
   int require_compliance;
+  int with_log;
 } opt;