diff --git a/test/pacman/pmdb.py b/test/pacman/pmdb.py
index b694dff6..3e9d305e 100644
--- a/test/pacman/pmdb.py
+++ b/test/pacman/pmdb.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ class pmdb(object):
         # files and install
         if self.is_local:
             data = []
-            make_section(data, "FILES", pkg.full_filelist())
+            make_section(data, "FILES", pkg.filelist())
             make_section(data, "BACKUP", pkg.local_backup_entries())
             entry["files"] = "\n".join(data)
 
diff --git a/test/pacman/pmpkg.py b/test/pacman/pmpkg.py
index c0c9f131..988c73f3 100644
--- a/test/pacman/pmpkg.py
+++ b/test/pacman/pmpkg.py
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ class pmpkg(object):
             "post_upgrade": "",
         }
         self.path = None
+        self.finalized = False
 
     def __str__(self):
         s = ["%s" % self.fullname()]
@@ -182,27 +183,38 @@ class pmpkg(object):
             if os.path.isfile(path):
                 os.utime(path, (355, 355))
 
-    def full_filelist(self):
-        """Generate a list of package files.
+    def filelist(self):
+        """Generate a list of package files."""
+        return sorted([self.parse_filename(f) for f in self.files])
 
-        Each path is decomposed to generate the list of all directories leading
-        to the file.
+    def finalize(self):
+        """Perform any necessary operations to ready the package for use."""
+        if self.finalized:
+            return
 
-        Example with 'usr/local/bin/dummy':
-        The resulting list will be:
-            usr/
-            usr/local/
-            usr/local/bin/
-            usr/local/bin/dummy
-        """
-        file_set = set()
-        for name in self.files:
-            name = self.parse_filename(name)
-            file_set.add(name)
-            while "/" in name:
-                name, tmp = name.rsplit("/", 1)
-                file_set.add(name + "/")
-        return sorted(file_set)
+        # add missing parent dirs to file list
+        # use bare file names so trailing ' -> ', '*', etc don't throw off the
+        # checks for existing files
+        file_names = self.filelist()
+        for name in list(file_names):
+            if os.path.isabs(name):
+                raise ValueError("Absolute path in filelist '%s'." % name)
+
+            name = os.path.dirname(name.rstrip("/"))
+            while name:
+                if name in file_names:
+                    # path exists as both a file and a directory
+                    raise ValueError("Duplicate path in filelist '%s'." % name)
+                elif name + "/" in file_names:
+                    # path was either manually included or already processed
+                    break
+                else:
+                    file_names.append(name + "/")
+                    self.files.append(name + "/")
+                name = os.path.dirname(name)
+        self.files.sort()
+
+        self.finalized = True
 
     def local_backup_entries(self):
         return ["%s\t%s" % (self.parse_filename(i), util.mkmd5sum(i)) for i in self.backup]
diff --git a/test/pacman/pmtest.py b/test/pacman/pmtest.py
index 6dc0ee64..2eafe682 100644
--- a/test/pacman/pmtest.py
+++ b/test/pacman/pmtest.py
@@ -147,8 +147,11 @@ class pmtest(object):
         vprint("    Creating package archives")
         for pkg in self.localpkgs:
             vprint("\t%s" % os.path.join(util.TMPDIR, pkg.filename()))
+            pkg.finalize()
             pkg.makepkg(tmpdir)
         for key, value in self.db.iteritems():
+            for pkg in value.pkgs:
+                pkg.finalize()
             if key == "local" and not self.createlocalpkgs:
                 continue
             for pkg in value.pkgs: