diff --git a/src/pxar/encoder.rs b/src/pxar/encoder.rs
index 1b607eae..e4db5fc5 100644
--- a/src/pxar/encoder.rs
+++ b/src/pxar/encoder.rs
@@ -676,6 +676,8 @@ impl <'a, W: Write> Encoder<'a, W> {
         let mut goodbye_items = vec![];
 
         for (filename, stat, exclude_list) in name_list {
+            let start_pos = self.writer_pos;
+
             if filename.as_bytes() == b".pxarexclude" {
                 if let Some((ref content, ref stat)) = pxar_exclude {
                     let filefd = match nix::fcntl::openat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), OFlag::O_NOFOLLOW, Mode::empty()) {
@@ -706,8 +708,6 @@ impl <'a, W: Write> Encoder<'a, W> {
 
             if self.verbose { println!("{:?}", self.full_path()); }
 
-            let start_pos = self.writer_pos;
-
             if is_directory(&stat) {
 
                 let mut dir = match nix::dir::Dir::openat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), OFlag::O_DIRECTORY|OFlag::O_NOFOLLOW, Mode::empty()) {