diff -urNp tar-1.22-orig/lib/utimens.c tar-1.22/lib/utimens.c
--- tar-1.22-orig/lib/utimens.c	2008-10-30 08:57:49.000000000 +0100
+++ tar-1.22/lib/utimens.c	2010-01-05 20:14:50.348792138 +0100
@@ -120,16 +120,17 @@ gl_futimens (int fd ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     }
 #endif
 #if HAVE_FUTIMENS
-  {
-    int result = futimens (fd, timespec);
+    if (0 <= fd)
+    {
+      int result = futimens (fd, timespec);
 # ifdef __linux__
-    /* Work around the same bug as above.  */
-    if (0 < result)
-      errno = ENOSYS;
+      /* Work around the same bug as above.  */
+      if (0 < result)
+        errno = ENOSYS;
 # endif
-    if (result == 0 || errno != ENOSYS)
-      return result;
-  }
+      if (result == 0 || errno != ENOSYS)
+        return result;
+    }
 #endif
 
   /* The platform lacks an interface to set file timestamps with