diff --git a/pkg/compiler/compiler.go b/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
index f7627a16..a7b12c74 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/compiler.go
@@ -357,8 +357,15 @@ func (cs *LuetCompiler) compileWithImage(image, buildertaggedImage, packageImage
 
 	var diffs []ArtifactLayer
 	var artifact Artifact
+	unpack := p.ImageUnpack()
 
-	if !p.ImageUnpack() {
+	// If package_dir was specified in the spec, we want to treat the content of the directory
+	// as the root of our archive.  ImageUnpack is implied to be true. override it
+	if p.GetPackageDir() != "" {
+		unpack = true
+	}
+
+	if !unpack {
 		// we have to get diffs only if spec is not unpacked
 		diffs, err = cs.Backend.Changes(p.Rel(p.GetPackage().GetFingerPrint()+"-builder.image.tar"), p.Rel(p.GetPackage().GetFingerPrint()+".image.tar"))
 		if err != nil {
@@ -395,7 +402,12 @@ func (cs *LuetCompiler) compileWithImage(image, buildertaggedImage, packageImage
 		}
 	}
 
-	if p.ImageUnpack() {
+	if unpack {
+
+		if p.GetPackageDir() != "" {
+			Info(":tophat: Packing from output dir", p.GetPackageDir())
+			rootfs = filepath.Join(rootfs, p.GetPackageDir())
+		}
 
 		if len(p.GetIncludes()) > 0 {
 			// strip from includes
diff --git a/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go b/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go
index 6a2e799e..36f65de6 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/compiler_test.go
@@ -615,6 +615,61 @@ var _ = Describe("Compiler", func() {
 		})
 	})
 
+	Context("Packages which conents are a package folder", func() {
+		It("Compiles it in parallel", func() {
+			generalRecipe := tree.NewCompilerRecipe(pkg.NewInMemoryDatabase(false))
+
+			err := generalRecipe.Load("../../tests/fixtures/package_dir")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(len(generalRecipe.GetDatabase().GetPackages())).To(Equal(2))
+
+			compiler := NewLuetCompiler(sd.NewSimpleDockerBackend(), generalRecipe.GetDatabase(), NewDefaultCompilerOptions())
+
+			spec, err := compiler.FromPackage(&pkg.DefaultPackage{
+				Name:     "dironly",
+				Category: "test",
+				Version:  "1.0",
+			})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			spec2, err := compiler.FromPackage(&pkg.DefaultPackage{
+				Name:     "dironly_filter",
+				Category: "test",
+				Version:  "1.0",
+			})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(spec.GetPackage().GetPath()).ToNot(Equal(""))
+
+			tmpdir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tree")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir) // clean up
+			tmpdir2, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tree2")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir2) // clean up
+
+			spec.SetOutputPath(tmpdir)
+			spec2.SetOutputPath(tmpdir2)
+
+			compiler.SetConcurrency(1)
+
+			artifacts, errs := compiler.CompileParallel(false, NewLuetCompilationspecs(spec, spec2))
+			Expect(errs).To(BeNil())
+			Expect(len(artifacts)).To(Equal(2))
+			Expect(len(artifacts[0].GetDependencies())).To(Equal(0))
+
+			Expect(helpers.Untar(spec.Rel("dironly-test-1.0.package.tar"), tmpdir, false)).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(helpers.Exists(spec.Rel("test1"))).To(BeTrue())
+			Expect(helpers.Exists(spec.Rel("test2"))).To(BeTrue())
+
+			Expect(helpers.Untar(spec2.Rel("dironly_filter-test-1.0.package.tar"), tmpdir2, false)).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(helpers.Exists(spec2.Rel("test5"))).To(BeTrue())
+			Expect(helpers.Exists(spec2.Rel("test6"))).ToNot(BeTrue())
+			Expect(helpers.Exists(spec2.Rel("artifact42"))).ToNot(BeTrue())
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("Compression", func() {
 		It("Builds packages in gzip", func() {
 			generalRecipe := tree.NewCompilerRecipe(pkg.NewInMemoryDatabase(false))
diff --git a/pkg/compiler/interface.go b/pkg/compiler/interface.go
index 0fc1a01d..9a4c22c6 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/interface.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/interface.go
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ type CompilationSpec interface {
 
 	GetRetrieve() []string
 	CopyRetrieves(dest string) error
+
+	SetPackageDir(string)
+	GetPackageDir() string
 }
 
 type CompilationSpecs interface {
diff --git a/pkg/compiler/spec.go b/pkg/compiler/spec.go
index 5a50a0d7..47e3e830 100644
--- a/pkg/compiler/spec.go
+++ b/pkg/compiler/spec.go
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ type LuetCompilationSpec struct {
 	Seed            string                    `json:"seed"`
 	Package         *pkg.DefaultPackage       `json:"package"`
 	SourceAssertion solver.PackagesAssertions `json:"-"`
+	PackageDir      string                    `json:"package_dir" yaml:"package_dir"`
 
 	Retrieve []string `json:"retrieve"`
 
@@ -123,6 +124,14 @@ func (cs *LuetCompilationSpec) GetPackage() pkg.Package {
 	return cs.Package
 }
 
+func (cs *LuetCompilationSpec) GetPackageDir() string {
+	return cs.PackageDir
+}
+
+func (cs *LuetCompilationSpec) SetPackageDir(s string) {
+	cs.PackageDir = s
+}
+
 func (cs *LuetCompilationSpec) BuildSteps() []string {
 	return cs.Steps
 }
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8d1533ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+image: "alpine"
+prelude:
+  - mkdir /foo
+steps:
+  - echo artifact5 > /foo/test1
+  - echo artifact6 > /foo/test2
+package_dir: /foo
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a531522
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "test"
+name: "dironly"
+version: "1.0"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/build.yaml b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/build.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9d4befa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/build.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+image: "alpine"
+prelude:
+  - mkdir /foo
+  - chmod +x generate.sh
+steps:
+  - echo artifact5 > /foo/test5
+  - echo artifact6 > /foo/test6
+  - ./generate.sh
+package_dir: /foo
+includes:
+- /test5
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/definition.yaml b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/definition.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1591598f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/definition.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+category: "test"
+name: "dironly_filter"
+version: "1.0"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/generate.sh b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/generate.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0d5ecdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/package_dir/dironly_filter/generate.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+echo generated > /foo/artifact42