diff --git a/benches/bench_tar.rs b/benches/bench_tar.rs
index 555a1f8..91e0e15 100644
--- a/benches/bench_tar.rs
+++ b/benches/bench_tar.rs
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ fn extract_archive_20_files(bencher: divan::Bencher) {
                 input,
                 &archive_path,
                 false,
+                false,
                 CompressionMode::None,
             )
             .unwrap();
diff --git a/src/uu/tar/src/errors.rs b/src/uu/tar/src/errors.rs
index adf771f..c2f53b6 100644
--- a/src/uu/tar/src/errors.rs
+++ b/src/uu/tar/src/errors.rs
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ pub enum TarError {
     #[error("tar: {path}: Member name contains '..'")]
     MemberNameContainsDotDot { path: PathBuf },
 
+    /// A member that `-k` keeps from replacing an existing file
+    #[error("tar: {path}: Cannot open: File exists")]
+    FileExists { path: PathBuf },
+
     /// Errors that were reported earlier and recovered from
     #[error("tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors")]
     PreviousErrors,
diff --git a/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract.rs b/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract.rs
index 23a55b4..ab6886c 100644
--- a/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract.rs
+++ b/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract.rs
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 use crate::compression::open_archive_reader;
 use crate::errors::{finish_after_previous_errors, report_recoverable, TarError};
 use crate::CompressionMode;
+use std::fs;
 use std::io::Read;
 use std::io::{self, BufWriter, Write};
-use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::{Component, Path, PathBuf};
 use tar::Archive;
 use uucore::error::UResult;
 
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ use uucore::error::UResult;
 ///
 /// * `archive_path` - Path to the tar archive to extract
 /// * `verbose` - Whether to print verbose output during extraction
+/// * `keep_old` - Don't replace existing files; each one is reported as an error
 ///
 /// # Errors
 ///
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ pub fn extract_archive(
     input: impl Read,
     archive_path: &Path,
     verbose: bool,
+    keep_old: bool,
     compression: CompressionMode,
 ) -> UResult<()> {
     let reader = open_archive_reader(input, compression)?;
@@ -58,6 +61,19 @@ pub fn extract_archive(
             writeln!(out, "{}", path.display()).map_err(TarError::Io)?;
         }
 
+        // -k: like GNU tar, an existing file is an error and is left as it is;
+        // an existing directory is fine.
+        if keep_old && !entry.header().entry_type().is_dir() {
+            if let Some(target) = unpack_target(&path) {
+                if fs::symlink_metadata(&target).is_ok() {
+                    out.flush().map_err(TarError::Io)?;
+                    report_recoverable(&TarError::FileExists { path: target })?;
+                    refused_member = true;
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         // Unpack the entry. `unpack_in` skips, and returns false for, a member whose
         // name contains a `..` component, as it would escape the target directory.
         let unpacked = entry.unpack_in(".").map_err(|e| TarError::CannotExtract {
@@ -78,6 +94,21 @@ pub fn extract_archive(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// The path `unpack_in(".")` writes *path* to: leading `/` and `.` components
+/// are dropped. `None` when it writes nothing, for a member with a `..`
+/// component (refused) or no name left.
+fn unpack_target(path: &Path) -> Option<PathBuf> {
+    let mut target = PathBuf::new();
+    for component in path.components() {
+        match component {
+            Component::Prefix(_) | Component::RootDir | Component::CurDir => {}
+            Component::ParentDir => return None,
+            Component::Normal(part) => target.push(part),
+        }
+    }
+    (!target.as_os_str().is_empty()).then_some(target)
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 #[path = "extract_tests.rs"]
 mod tests;
diff --git a/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract_tests.rs b/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract_tests.rs
index 898caff..205974a 100644
--- a/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract_tests.rs
+++ b/src/uu/tar/src/operations/extract_tests.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ fn test_extract_archive_with_zstd() {
 
     let _guard = crate::operations::TestDirGuard::enter(tempdir.path());
     let input = fs::File::open(&archive_path).unwrap();
-    let result = extract_archive(input, &archive_path, true, CompressionMode::Zstd);
+    let result = extract_archive(input, &archive_path, true, false, CompressionMode::Zstd);
 
     result.unwrap();
     assert_eq!(
diff --git a/src/uu/tar/src/tar.rs b/src/uu/tar/src/tar.rs
index 73c8225..a5fcfc4 100644
--- a/src/uu/tar/src/tar.rs
+++ b/src/uu/tar/src/tar.rs
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> UResult<()> {
 
     let verbose = matches.get_flag("verbose");
     let allow_absolute = matches.get_flag("absolute-names");
+    let keep_old = matches.get_flag("keep-old-files");
     let recursive = !matches.get_flag("no-recursion");
     let explicit_compression = if matches.get_flag("gzip") {
         Some(CompressionMode::Gzip)
@@ -162,11 +163,17 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> UResult<()> {
 
         let compression = explicit_compression.unwrap_or(CompressionMode::Auto);
         return if archive_path == Path::new("-") {
-            operations::extract::extract_archive(io::stdin(), archive_path, verbose, compression)
+            operations::extract::extract_archive(
+                io::stdin(),
+                archive_path,
+                verbose,
+                keep_old,
+                compression,
+            )
         } else {
             let file =
                 File::open(archive_path).map_err(|e| TarError::from_io_error(e, archive_path))?;
-            operations::extract::extract_archive(file, archive_path, verbose, compression)
+            operations::extract::extract_archive(file, archive_path, verbose, keep_old, compression)
         };
     }
 
@@ -279,6 +286,7 @@ pub fn uu_app() -> Command {
             arg!(--zstd "Filter through zstd").conflicts_with("gzip"),
             // Common options
             arg!(-v --verbose "Verbosely list files processed"),
+            arg!(-k --"keep-old-files" "Don't replace existing files when extracting"),
             arg!(--"no-recursion" "Avoid descending automatically in directories"),
             // arg!(-h --dereference "Follow symlinks"),
             // arg!(-p --"preserve-permissions" "Extract information about file permissions"),
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_tar.rs b/tests/by-util/test_tar.rs
index b766295..9f0b60e 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_tar.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_tar.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ use std::io::{Cursor, Read, Write};
 use std::path::{self, PathBuf};
 
 use tar_rs_crate::{Archive as TarRsArchive, Builder as TarRsBuilder, Header as TarRsHeader};
-use uutests::{at_and_ucmd, new_ucmd};
+use uutests::util::TestScenario;
+use uutests::{at_and_ucmd, new_ucmd, util_name};
 
 /// Size of a single tar block in bytes (per POSIX specification).
 // TODO: This should be exported from the tar crate instead of being redefined here.
@@ -86,6 +87,96 @@ fn test_create_dir_verbose() {
         .stdout_contains(file2_path);
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_extract_keep_old_files() {
+    let ts = TestScenario::new(util_name!());
+    let at = &ts.fixtures;
+
+    at.write("a.txt", "from archive");
+    at.write("b.txt", "also from archive");
+    ts.ucmd()
+        .args(&["-cf", "archive.tar", "a.txt", "b.txt"])
+        .succeeds();
+    at.write("a.txt", "already here");
+    at.remove("b.txt");
+
+    ts.ucmd()
+        .args(&["-xkf", "archive.tar"])
+        .fails()
+        .code_is(2)
+        .stderr_contains("tar: a.txt: Cannot open: File exists")
+        .stderr_contains("Exiting with failure status due to previous errors");
+    assert_eq!(at.read("a.txt"), "already here");
+    assert_eq!(at.read("b.txt"), "also from archive");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_extract_keep_old_files_existing_directory() {
+    let ts = TestScenario::new(util_name!());
+    let at = &ts.fixtures;
+
+    at.mkdir("d");
+    at.write("d/f.txt", "from archive");
+    ts.ucmd().args(&["-cf", "archive.tar", "d"]).succeeds();
+    at.remove("d/f.txt");
+
+    ts.ucmd()
+        .args(&["-xkf", "archive.tar"])
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_output();
+    assert_eq!(at.read("d/f.txt"), "from archive");
+}
+
+fn keep_old_members_tar(names: &[&str]) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut tar_bytes = Vec::new();
+    {
+        let mut builder = TarRsBuilder::new(&mut tar_bytes);
+        for name in names {
+            let mut header = TarRsHeader::new_gnu();
+            header.as_old_mut().name[..name.len()].copy_from_slice(name.as_bytes());
+            header.set_mode(0o644);
+            header.set_size(1);
+            header.set_cksum();
+            builder.append(&header, Cursor::new("x")).unwrap();
+        }
+        builder.finish().unwrap();
+    }
+    tar_bytes
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_extract_keep_old_files_checks_the_unpacked_path() {
+    let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();
+    at.mkdir("out");
+    at.write("out/kept.txt", "already here");
+    // A leading `/` is dropped when extracting, so `/kept.txt` lands on
+    // out/kept.txt, which -k must keep.
+    at.write_bytes("members.tar", &keep_old_members_tar(&["/kept.txt"]));
+
+    ucmd.args(&["-xkf", "../members.tar"])
+        .current_dir(at.plus("out"))
+        .fails()
+        .code_is(2)
+        .stderr_contains("tar: kept.txt: Cannot open: File exists");
+    assert_eq!(at.read("out/kept.txt"), "already here");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_extract_keep_old_files_reports_parent_dir_member() {
+    let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();
+    at.mkdir("out");
+    at.write("item", "outside");
+    at.write_bytes("members.tar", &keep_old_members_tar(&["../item"]));
+
+    ucmd.args(&["-xkf", "../members.tar"])
+        .current_dir(at.plus("out"))
+        .fails()
+        .code_is(2)
+        .stderr_contains("../item: Member name contains '..'")
+        .stderr_does_not_contain("File exists");
+    assert_eq!(at.read("item"), "outside");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_create_no_recursion() {
     let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();