diff --git a/archive.c b/archive.c
index c699a2d5a..99fadc88d 100644
--- a/archive.c
+++ b/archive.c
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 #include "archive.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "unpack-trees.h"
-#include "pathspec.h"
 
 static char const * const archive_usage[] = {
 	N_("git archive [options] <tree-ish> [<path>...]"),
@@ -152,7 +151,6 @@ int write_archive_entries(struct archiver_args *args,
 	struct archiver_context context;
 	struct unpack_trees_options opts;
 	struct tree_desc t;
-	struct pathspec pathspec;
 	int err;
 
 	if (args->baselen > 0 && args->base[args->baselen - 1] == '/') {
@@ -187,10 +185,8 @@ int write_archive_entries(struct archiver_args *args,
 		git_attr_set_direction(GIT_ATTR_INDEX, &the_index);
 	}
 
-	init_pathspec(&pathspec, args->pathspec);
-	err = read_tree_recursive(args->tree, "", 0, 0, &pathspec,
+	err = read_tree_recursive(args->tree, "", 0, 0, &args->pathspec,
 				  write_archive_entry, &context);
-	free_pathspec(&pathspec);
 	if (err == READ_TREE_RECURSIVE)
 		err = 0;
 	return err;
@@ -223,7 +219,7 @@ static int path_exists(struct tree *tree, const char *path)
 	struct pathspec pathspec;
 	int ret;
 
-	init_pathspec(&pathspec, paths);
+	parse_pathspec(&pathspec, 0, 0, "", paths);
 	ret = read_tree_recursive(tree, "", 0, 0, &pathspec, reject_entry, NULL);
 	free_pathspec(&pathspec);
 	return ret != 0;
@@ -232,11 +228,18 @@ static int path_exists(struct tree *tree, const char *path)
 static void parse_pathspec_arg(const char **pathspec,
 		struct archiver_args *ar_args)
 {
-	ar_args->pathspec = pathspec = get_pathspec("", pathspec);
+	/*
+	 * must be consistent with parse_pathspec in path_exists()
+	 * Also if pathspec patterns are dependent, we're in big
+	 * trouble as we test each one separately
+	 */
+	parse_pathspec(&ar_args->pathspec, 0,
+		       PATHSPEC_PREFER_FULL,
+		       "", pathspec);
 	if (pathspec) {
 		while (*pathspec) {
 			if (**pathspec && !path_exists(ar_args->tree, *pathspec))
-				die("path not found: %s", *pathspec);
+				die(_("pathspec '%s' did not match any files"), *pathspec);
 			pathspec++;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/archive.h b/archive.h
index 895afcdc7..4a791e1fe 100644
--- a/archive.h
+++ b/archive.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef ARCHIVE_H
 #define ARCHIVE_H
 
+#include "pathspec.h"
+
 struct archiver_args {
 	const char *base;
 	size_t baselen;
@@ -8,7 +10,7 @@ struct archiver_args {
 	const unsigned char *commit_sha1;
 	const struct commit *commit;
 	time_t time;
-	const char **pathspec;
+	struct pathspec pathspec;
 	unsigned int verbose : 1;
 	unsigned int worktree_attributes : 1;
 	unsigned int convert : 1;