diff --git a/src/builder.rs b/src/builder.rs
index a38fe81e..0c904474 100644
--- a/src/builder.rs
+++ b/src/builder.rs
@@ -410,10 +410,61 @@ fn append_path_with_name(
             Some(&link_name),
         )
     } else {
-        Err(other(&format!("{} has unknown file type", path.display())))
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        {
+            append_special(dst, path, &stat, mode)
+        }
+        #[cfg(not(unix))]
+        {
+            Err(other(&format!("{} has unknown file type", path.display())))
+        }
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn append_special(
+    dst: &mut dyn Write,
+    path: &Path,
+    stat: &fs::Metadata,
+    mode: HeaderMode,
+) -> io::Result<()> {
+    use ::std::os::unix::fs::{FileTypeExt, MetadataExt};
+
+    let file_type = stat.file_type();
+    let entry_type;
+    if file_type.is_socket() {
+        // sockets can't be archived
+        return Err(other(&format!(
+            "{}: socket can not be archived",
+            path.display()
+        )));
+    } else if file_type.is_fifo() {
+        entry_type = EntryType::Fifo;
+    } else if file_type.is_char_device() {
+        entry_type = EntryType::Char;
+    } else if file_type.is_block_device() {
+        entry_type = EntryType::Block;
+    } else {
+        return Err(other(&format!("{} has unknown file type", path.display())));
+    }
+
+    let mut header = Header::new_gnu();
+    header.set_metadata_in_mode(stat, mode);
+    prepare_header_path(dst, &mut header, path)?;
+
+    header.set_entry_type(entry_type);
+    let dev_id = stat.rdev();
+    let dev_major = ((dev_id >> 32) & 0xffff_f000) | ((dev_id >> 8) & 0x0000_0fff);
+    let dev_minor = ((dev_id >> 12) & 0xffff_ff00) | ((dev_id) & 0x0000_00ff);
+    header.set_device_major(dev_major as u32)?;
+    header.set_device_minor(dev_minor as u32)?;
+
+    header.set_cksum();
+    dst.write_all(header.as_bytes())?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn append_file(
     dst: &mut dyn Write,
     path: &Path,
@@ -543,6 +594,14 @@ fn append_dir_all(
             let link_name = fs::read_link(&src)?;
             append_fs(dst, &dest, &stat, &mut io::empty(), mode, Some(&link_name))?;
         } else {
+            #[cfg(unix)]
+            {
+                let stat = fs::metadata(&src)?;
+                if !stat.is_file() {
+                    append_special(dst, &dest, &stat, mode)?;
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
             append_file(dst, &dest, &mut fs::File::open(src)?, mode)?;
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/all.rs b/tests/all.rs
index 1abb9161..d29a5190 100644
--- a/tests/all.rs
+++ b/tests/all.rs
@@ -1212,3 +1212,36 @@ fn read_only_directory_containing_files() {
     let mut ar = Archive::new(&contents[..]);
     assert!(ar.unpack(td.path()).is_ok());
 }
+
+// This test was marked linux only due to macOS CI can't handle `set_current_dir` correctly
+#[test]
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+fn tar_directory_containing_special_files() {
+    use std::env;
+    use std::ffi::CString;
+
+    let td = t!(TempBuilder::new().prefix("tar-rs").tempdir());
+    let fifo = td.path().join("fifo");
+
+    unsafe {
+        let fifo_path = t!(CString::new(fifo.to_str().unwrap()));
+        let ret = libc::mknod(fifo_path.as_ptr(), libc::S_IFIFO | 0o644, 0);
+        if ret != 0 {
+            libc::perror(fifo_path.as_ptr());
+            panic!("Failed to create a FIFO file");
+        }
+    }
+
+    t!(env::set_current_dir(td.path()));
+    let mut ar = Builder::new(Vec::new());
+    // append_path has a different logic for processing files, so we need to test it as well
+    t!(ar.append_path("fifo"));
+    t!(ar.append_dir_all("special", td.path()));
+    // unfortunately, block device file cannot be created by non-root users
+    // as a substitute, just test the file that exists on most Unix systems
+    t!(env::set_current_dir("/dev/"));
+    t!(ar.append_path("loop0"));
+    // CI systems seem to have issues with creating a chr device
+    t!(ar.append_path("null"));
+    t!(ar.finish());
+}