diff --git a/contrib/fast-import/import-tars.perl b/contrib/fast-import/import-tars.perl
index e800d9f5c9..d50ce26d5d 100755
--- a/contrib/fast-import/import-tars.perl
+++ b/contrib/fast-import/import-tars.perl
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ foreach my $tar_file (@ARGV)
 			print FI "\n";
 		}
 
+		next if ($typeflag eq 'g'); # ignore global header
+
 		my $path;
 		if ($prefix) {
 			$path = "$prefix/$name";