diff --git a/src/catar/encoder.rs b/src/catar/encoder.rs
index a371875f..ddb19d65 100644
--- a/src/catar/encoder.rs
+++ b/src/catar/encoder.rs
@@ -6,19 +6,21 @@ use std::io::Write;
 use std::os::unix::io::AsRawFd;
 use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
 use std::os::unix::io::RawFd;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
 use nix::fcntl::OFlag;
 use nix::sys::stat::Mode;
+use nix::errno::Errno;
 
 pub struct CaTarEncoder<W: Write> {
-    current_path: std::path::PathBuf, // used for error reporting
+    current_path: PathBuf, // used for error reporting
     writer: W,
     size: usize,
 }
 
 impl <W: Write> CaTarEncoder<W> {
 
-    pub fn encode(path: std::path::PathBuf, dir: &mut nix::dir::Dir, writer: W) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    pub fn encode(path: PathBuf, dir: &mut nix::dir::Dir, writer: W) -> Result<(), Error> {
         let mut me = Self {
             current_path: path,
             writer: writer,
@@ -32,6 +34,8 @@ impl <W: Write> CaTarEncoder<W> {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    //fn report_vanished
+
     fn encode_dir(&mut self, dir: &mut nix::dir::Dir)  -> Result<(), Error> {
 
         println!("encode_dir: {:?}", self.current_path);
@@ -48,7 +52,7 @@ impl <W: Write> CaTarEncoder<W> {
         for entry in dir.iter() {
             let entry = match entry {
                 Ok(entry) => entry,
-                Err(err) => bail!("readir failed - {}", err),
+                Err(err) => bail!("readir {:?} failed - {}", self.current_path, err),
             };
             let filename = entry.file_name().to_owned();
 
@@ -57,34 +61,44 @@ impl <W: Write> CaTarEncoder<W> {
             if name_len == 2 && name[0] == b'.' && name[1] == 0u8 { continue; }
             if name_len == 3 && name[0] == b'.' && name[1] == b'.' && name[2] == 0u8 { continue; }
 
-            if let Ok(stat) = nix::sys::stat::fstatat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), nix::fcntl::AtFlags::AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW) {
-                //println!("Found {:?}", filename);
-                name_list.push((filename, stat));
-            } else {
-                bail!("fsstat failed");
+            match nix::sys::stat::fstatat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), nix::fcntl::AtFlags::AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW) {
+                Ok(stat) => {
+                    name_list.push((filename, stat));
+                }
+                Err(nix::Error::Sys(Errno::ENOENT)) => self.report_vanished_file(&self.current_path)?,
+                Err(err) => bail!("fstat {:?} failed - {}", self.current_path, err),
             }
         }
 
         name_list.sort_unstable_by(|a, b| a.0.cmp(&b.0));
 
         for (filename, stat) in name_list {
-            //println!("SORTED {:?}", filename);
             self.current_path.push(std::ffi::OsStr::from_bytes(filename.as_bytes()));
 
             if (stat.st_mode & libc::S_IFMT) == libc::S_IFDIR {
-
-                let mut dir = nix::dir::Dir::openat(
-                    rawfd, filename.as_ref(), OFlag::O_NOFOLLOW, Mode::empty())?;
-
-                self.encode_dir(&mut dir)?;
+                match nix::dir::Dir::openat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), OFlag::O_NOFOLLOW, Mode::empty()) {
+                    Ok(mut dir) => self.encode_dir(&mut dir)?,
+                    Err(nix::Error::Sys(Errno::ENOENT)) => self.report_vanished_file(&self.current_path)?,
+                    Err(err) => bail!("open dir {:?} failed - {}", self.current_path, err),
+                }
+                
             } else if (stat.st_mode & libc::S_IFMT) == libc::S_IFREG {
-                let filefd = nix::fcntl::openat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), OFlag::O_NOFOLLOW, Mode::empty())?;
-                self.encode_file(filefd)?;
-                let _ = nix::unistd::close(filefd); // ignore close errors
+                match nix::fcntl::openat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), OFlag::O_NOFOLLOW, Mode::empty()) {
+                    Ok(filefd) => {
+                        let res = self.encode_file(filefd);
+                        let _ = nix::unistd::close(filefd); // ignore close errors
+                        res?;
+                    }
+                    Err(nix::Error::Sys(Errno::ENOENT)) => self.report_vanished_file(&self.current_path)?,
+                    Err(err) => bail!("open file {:?} failed - {}", self.current_path, err),
+                }
             } else if (stat.st_mode & libc::S_IFMT) == libc::S_IFLNK {
                 let mut buffer = [0u8; libc::PATH_MAX as usize];
-                let target = nix::fcntl::readlinkat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), &mut buffer)?;
-                self.encode_symlink(&target)?;
+                match nix::fcntl::readlinkat(rawfd, filename.as_ref(), &mut buffer) {
+                    Ok(target) => self.encode_symlink(&target)?,
+                    Err(nix::Error::Sys(Errno::ENOENT)) => self.report_vanished_file(&self.current_path)?,
+                    Err(err) => bail!("readlink {:?} failed - {}", self.current_path, err),
+                }
             } else {
                 bail!("unsupported file type (mode {:o} {:?})", stat.st_mode, self.current_path);
             }
@@ -108,4 +122,14 @@ impl <W: Write> CaTarEncoder<W> {
 
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    // the report_XXX method may raise and error - depending on encoder configuration
+    
+    fn report_vanished_file(&self, path: &Path) -> Result<(), Error> {
+
+        eprintln!("WARNING: detected vanished file {:?}", path);
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
 }