diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 133c333df..cb83332a2 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -594,13 +594,29 @@ static int simplify_away(const char *path, int pathlen, const struct path_simpli
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int in_pathspec(const char *path, int len, const struct path_simplify *simplify)
+/*
+ * This function tells us whether an excluded path matches a
+ * list of "interesting" pathspecs. That is, whether a path matched
+ * by any of the pathspecs could possibly be ignored by excluding
+ * the specified path. This can happen if:
+ *
+ *   1. the path is mentioned explicitly in the pathspec
+ *
+ *   2. the path is a directory prefix of some element in the
+ *      pathspec
+ */
+static int exclude_matches_pathspec(const char *path, int len,
+		const struct path_simplify *simplify)
 {
 	if (simplify) {
 		for (; simplify->path; simplify++) {
 			if (len == simplify->len
 			    && !memcmp(path, simplify->path, len))
 				return 1;
+			if (len < simplify->len
+			    && simplify->path[len] == '/'
+			    && !memcmp(path, simplify->path, len))
+				return 1;
 		}
 	}
 	return 0;
@@ -678,7 +694,7 @@ 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))
+	    && exclude_matches_pathspec(path, *len, simplify))
 		dir_add_ignored(dir, path, *len);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/t/t0050-filesystem.sh b/t/t0050-filesystem.sh
index 89282ccf7..41df6bcf2 100755
--- a/t/t0050-filesystem.sh
+++ b/t/t0050-filesystem.sh
@@ -108,13 +108,17 @@ $test_case 'merge (case change)' '
 
 '
 
-$test_case 'add (with different case)' '
+
+
+test_expect_failure 'add (with different case)' '
 
 	git reset --hard initial &&
 	rm camelcase &&
 	echo 1 >CamelCase &&
 	git add CamelCase &&
-	test $(git ls-files | grep -i camelcase | wc -l) = 1
+	camel=$(git ls-files | grep -i camelcase) &&
+	test $(echo "$camel" | wc -l) = 1 &&
+	test "z$(git cat-file blob :$camel)" = z1
 
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t2204-add-ignored.sh b/t/t2204-add-ignored.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..24afdabab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t2204-add-ignored.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='giving ignored paths to git add'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success setup '
+	mkdir sub dir dir/sub &&
+	echo sub >.gitignore &&
+	echo ign >>.gitignore &&
+	for p in . sub dir dir/sub
+	do
+		>"$p/ign" &&
+		>"$p/file" || exit 1
+	done
+'
+
+for i in file dir/file dir 'd*'
+do
+	test_expect_success "no complaints for unignored $i" '
+		rm -f .git/index &&
+		git add "$i" &&
+		git ls-files "$i" >out &&
+		test -s out
+	'
+done
+
+for i in ign dir/ign dir/sub dir/sub/*ign sub/file sub sub/*
+do
+	test_expect_success "complaints for ignored $i" '
+		rm -f .git/index &&
+		test_must_fail git add "$i" 2>err &&
+		git ls-files "$i" >out &&
+		! test -s out &&
+		grep -e "Use -f if" err &&
+		cat err
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success "complaints for ignored $i with unignored file" '
+		rm -f .git/index &&
+		test_must_fail git add "$i" file 2>err &&
+		git ls-files "$i" >out &&
+		! test -s out &&
+		grep -e "Use -f if" err &&
+		cat err
+	'
+done
+
+for i in sub sub/*
+do
+	test_expect_success "complaints for ignored $i in dir" '
+		rm -f .git/index &&
+		(
+			cd dir &&
+			test_must_fail git add "$i" 2>err &&
+			git ls-files "$i" >out &&
+			! test -s out &&
+			grep -e "Use -f if" err &&
+			cat err
+		)
+	'
+done
+
+for i in ign file
+do
+	test_expect_success "complaints for ignored $i in sub" '
+		rm -f .git/index &&
+		(
+			cd sub &&
+			test_must_fail git add "$i" 2>err &&
+			git ls-files "$i" >out &&
+			! test -s out &&
+			grep -e "Use -f if" err &&
+			cat err
+		)
+	'
+done
+
+test_done