diff --git a/archive.c b/archive.c
index 0ce628b..f79d005 100644
--- a/archive.c
+++ b/archive.c
@@ -147,12 +147,34 @@ static int write_archive_entry(const unsigned char *sha1, const char *base,
 	return err;
 }
 
+static int read_gitattr_to_index(const unsigned char *sha1, const char *base, int baselen, const char *pathname, unsigned mode, int stage, void *context)
+{
+	struct cache_entry *ce;
+	unsigned int size;
+	int len;
+	static int gitattr_len = 0;
+
+	if (S_ISDIR(mode))
+		return READ_TREE_RECURSIVE;
+
+	len = strlen(pathname);
+	if (!gitattr_len)
+		gitattr_len = strlen(GITATTRIBUTES_FILE);
+	if (len < gitattr_len || strcmp(pathname+len-gitattr_len, GITATTRIBUTES_FILE))
+		return 0;
+	size = cache_entry_size(len);
+	ce = xcalloc(1, size);
+	ce->ce_mode = create_ce_mode(mode);
+	ce->ce_flags = create_ce_flags(len, stage);
+	memcpy(ce->name, pathname, len+1);
+	hashcpy(ce->sha1, sha1);
+	return add_cache_entry(ce, ADD_CACHE_OK_TO_ADD | ADD_CACHE_SKIP_DFCHECK);
+}
+
 int write_archive_entries(struct archiver_args *args,
 		write_archive_entry_fn_t write_entry)
 {
 	struct archiver_context context;
-	struct unpack_trees_options opts;
-	struct tree_desc t;
 	int err;
 
 	if (args->baselen > 0 && args->base[args->baselen - 1] == '/') {
@@ -170,20 +192,8 @@ int write_archive_entries(struct archiver_args *args,
 
 	context.args = args;
 	context.write_entry = write_entry;
-
-	/*
-	 * Setup index and instruct attr to read index only
-	 */
 	if (!args->worktree_attributes) {
-		memset(&opts, 0, sizeof(opts));
-		opts.index_only = 1;
-		opts.head_idx = -1;
-		opts.src_index = &the_index;
-		opts.dst_index = &the_index;
-		opts.fn = oneway_merge;
-		init_tree_desc(&t, args->tree->buffer, args->tree->size);
-		if (unpack_trees(1, &t, &opts))
-			return -1;
+		read_tree_recursive(args->tree, NULL, 0, 0, NULL, read_gitattr_to_index, NULL);
 		git_attr_set_direction(GIT_ATTR_INDEX, &the_index);
 	}