diff -up cpio-2.9/src/extern.h.orig cpio-2.9/src/extern.h
--- cpio-2.9/src/extern.h.orig	2007-06-28 14:59:38.000000000 +0200
+++ cpio-2.9/src/extern.h	2008-02-13 15:24:37.000000000 +0100
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ uintmax_t from_ascii (char const *where,
 	    
 void delay_set_stat (char const *file_name, struct stat *st,
 		     mode_t invert_permissions);
-void repair_delayed_set_stat (char const *dir,
+int repair_delayed_set_stat (char const *dir,
 			      struct stat *dir_stat_info);
 void apply_delayed_set_stat (void);
      
diff -up cpio-2.9/src/copyin.c.orig cpio-2.9/src/copyin.c
--- cpio-2.9/src/copyin.c.orig	2007-06-28 12:51:09.000000000 +0200
+++ cpio-2.9/src/copyin.c	2008-02-14 10:28:33.000000000 +0100
@@ -570,6 +570,7 @@ static void
 copyin_directory (struct cpio_file_stat *file_hdr, int existing_dir)
 {
   int res;			/* Result of various function calls.  */
+  struct stat file_stat;
 #ifdef HPUX_CDF
   int cdf_flag;                 /* True if file is a CDF.  */
   int cdf_char;                 /* Index of `+' char indicating a CDF.  */
@@ -626,7 +627,6 @@ copyin_directory (struct cpio_file_stat 
 	 create_all_directories(), so the mkdir will fail
 	 because the directory exists.  If that's the case,
 	 don't complain about it.  */
-      struct stat file_stat;
       if (errno != EEXIST)
 	{
 	  mkdir_error (file_hdr->c_name);
@@ -645,7 +645,11 @@ copyin_directory (struct cpio_file_stat 
 	}
     }
 
-  set_perms (-1, file_hdr); 
+  /* if the directory is queued for delayed_set_stat,
+     fix permissions in the queue, otherwise set the permissions now */
+  cpio_to_stat(file_hdr, &file_stat);
+  if (repair_delayed_set_stat(file_hdr->c_name, &file_stat))
+    set_perms (-1, file_hdr); 
 }
 
 static void
diff -up cpio-2.9/src/makepath.c.orig cpio-2.9/src/makepath.c
diff -up cpio-2.9/src/util.c.orig cpio-2.9/src/util.c
--- cpio-2.9/src/util.c.orig	2007-06-28 15:04:51.000000000 +0200
+++ cpio-2.9/src/util.c	2008-02-14 13:24:37.000000000 +0100
@@ -1265,6 +1265,16 @@ stat_to_cpio (struct cpio_file_stat *hdr
   hdr->c_tar_linkname = NULL;
 }
 
+void
+cpio_to_stat (struct cpio_file_stat *hdr, struct stat *st)
+{
+  stat (hdr->c_name, st);
+  st->st_mode = hdr->c_mode;
+  st->st_uid = CPIO_UID(hdr->c_uid);
+  st->st_gid = CPIO_GID(hdr->c_gid);
+  st->st_mtime = hdr->c_mtime;
+}
+
 #ifndef HAVE_FCHOWN
 # define fchown(fd, uid, gid) (-1)
 #endif
@@ -1389,7 +1399,7 @@ delay_set_stat (char const *file_name, s
    created within the file name of DIR.  The intermediate directory turned
    out to be the same as this directory, e.g. due to ".." or symbolic
    links.  *DIR_STAT_INFO is the status of the directory.  */
-void
+int
 repair_delayed_set_stat (char const *dir,
 			 struct stat *dir_stat_info)
 {
@@ -1400,22 +1410,19 @@ repair_delayed_set_stat (char const *dir
       if (stat (data->stat.c_name, &st) != 0)
 	{
 	  stat_error (data->stat.c_name);
-	  return;
+	  return 0;
 	}
 
       if (st.st_dev == dir_stat_info->st_dev
 	  && st.st_ino == dir_stat_info->st_ino)
 	{
 	  stat_to_cpio (&data->stat, dir_stat_info);
-	  data->invert_permissions =
-	    ((dir_stat_info->st_mode ^ st.st_mode)
-	     & MODE_RWX & ~ newdir_umask);
-	  return;
+	  data->invert_permissions = 0;
+	  return 0;
 	}
     }
 
-  ERROR ((0, 0, _("%s: Unexpected inconsistency when making directory"),
-	  quotearg_colon (dir)));
+  return -1;
 }
 
 void