diff --git a/pack.js b/pack.js
index 1de304c..c9aade5 100644
--- a/pack.js
+++ b/pack.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+var constants = require('constants')
 var eos       = require('end-of-stream')
 var util      = require('util')
 
@@ -18,6 +19,19 @@ var overflow = function(self, size) {
   if (size) self.push(END_OF_TAR.slice(0, 512 - size))
 }
 
+function mode2type(mode)
+{
+  switch (mode & constants.S_IFMT) {
+    case constants.S_IFBLK: return 'block-device'
+    case constants.S_IFCHR: return 'character-device'
+    case constants.S_IFDIR: return 'directory'
+    case constants.S_IFIFO: return 'fifo'
+    case constants.S_IFLNK: return 'symlink'
+  }
+
+  return 'file'
+}
+
 var Sink = function(to) {
   Writable.call(this)
   this.written = 0
@@ -83,7 +97,7 @@ Pack.prototype.entry = function(header, buffer, callback) {
   var self = this
 
   if (!header.size)  header.size = 0
-  if (!header.type)  header.type = 'file'
+  if (!header.type)  header.type = mode2type(header.mode)
   if (!header.mode)  header.mode = header.type === 'directory' ? 0755 : 0644
   if (!header.uid)   header.uid = 0
   if (!header.gid)   header.gid = 0