diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp.go
index 83ab0e26727..aa4cfe881ab 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/templates"
@@ -236,6 +237,8 @@ func recursiveTar(base, file string, tw *tar.Writer) error {
 }
 
 func untarAll(reader io.Reader, destFile, prefix string) error {
+	entrySeq := -1
+
 	// TODO: use compression here?
 	tarReader := tar.NewReader(reader)
 	for {
@@ -246,25 +249,38 @@ func untarAll(reader io.Reader, destFile, prefix string) error {
 			}
 			break
 		}
+		entrySeq++
 		outFileName := path.Join(destFile, header.Name[len(prefix):])
 		baseName := path.Dir(outFileName)
 		if err := os.MkdirAll(baseName, 0755); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		if header.FileInfo().IsDir() {
-			os.MkdirAll(outFileName, 0755)
+
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(outFileName, 0755); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 			continue
 		}
+
+		// handle coping remote file into local directory
+		if entrySeq == 0 && !header.FileInfo().IsDir() {
+			exists, err := dirExists(outFileName)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if exists {
+				outFileName = filepath.Join(outFileName, path.Base(header.Name))
+			}
+		}
 		outFile, err := os.Create(outFileName)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		defer outFile.Close()
 		if _, err := io.Copy(outFile, tarReader); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		if err := outFile.Close(); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -312,3 +328,15 @@ func execute(f cmdutil.Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, options *ExecOptions) error
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// dirExists checks if a path exists and is a directory.
+func dirExists(path string) (bool, error) {
+	fi, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err == nil && fi.IsDir() {
+		return true, nil
+	}
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	return false, err
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp_test.go
index 7f2cdd3ea56..d3d86ef8fc9 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cp_test.go
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -179,3 +181,114 @@ func TestTarUntar(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// TestCopyToLocalFileOrDir tests untarAll in two cases :
+// 1: copy pod file to local file
+// 2: copy pod file into local directory
+func TestCopyToLocalFileOrDir(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), "input")
+	dir2, err2 := ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), "output")
+	if err != nil || err2 != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v | %v", err, err2)
+		t.FailNow()
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error cleaning up: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir2); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Unexpected error cleaning up: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	files := []struct {
+		name          string
+		data          string
+		dest          string
+		destDirExists bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:          "foo",
+			data:          "foobarbaz",
+			dest:          "path/to/dest",
+			destDirExists: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "dir/blah",
+			data:          "bazblahfoo",
+			dest:          "dest/file/path",
+			destDirExists: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, file := range files {
+		func() {
+			// setup
+			srcFilePath := filepath.Join(dir, file.name)
+			destPath := filepath.Join(dir2, file.dest)
+			if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(srcFilePath), 0755); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+			srcFile, err := os.Create(srcFilePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+			defer srcFile.Close()
+
+			if _, err := io.Copy(srcFile, bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(file.data))); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+			if file.destDirExists {
+				if err := os.MkdirAll(destPath, 0755); err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+					t.FailNow()
+				}
+			}
+
+			// start tests
+			srcTarFilePath := filepath.Join(dir, file.name+".tar")
+			// here use tar command to create tar file instead of calling makeTar func
+			// because makeTar func can not generate correct header name
+			err = exec.Command("tar", "cf", srcTarFilePath, srcFilePath).Run()
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+			srcTarFile, err := os.Open(srcTarFilePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+			defer srcTarFile.Close()
+
+			if err := untarAll(srcTarFile, destPath, getPrefix(srcFilePath)); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+
+			actualDestFilePath := destPath
+			if file.destDirExists {
+				actualDestFilePath = filepath.Join(destPath, filepath.Base(srcFilePath))
+			}
+			_, err = os.Stat(actualDestFilePath)
+			if err != nil && os.IsNotExist(err) {
+				t.Errorf("expecting %s exists, but actually it's missing", actualDestFilePath)
+			}
+			destFile, err := os.Open(actualDestFilePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+				t.FailNow()
+			}
+			defer destFile.Close()
+			buff := &bytes.Buffer{}
+			io.Copy(buff, destFile)
+			if file.data != string(buff.Bytes()) {
+				t.Errorf("expected: %s, actual: %s", file.data, string(buff.Bytes()))
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+}