diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1fb0ec1705..b84e182688 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3050,9 +3050,6 @@ quick-install-html:
 
 ### Maintainer's dist rules
 
-# Allow tweaking to hide local environment effects, like perm bits.
-# With GNU tar, "--mode=u+rwX,og+rX,og-w" would be a good idea, for example.
-TAR_DIST_EXTRA_OPTS =
 GIT_TARNAME = git-$(GIT_VERSION)
 GIT_ARCHIVE_EXTRA_FILES = \
 	--prefix=$(GIT_TARNAME)/ \
@@ -3102,11 +3099,15 @@ artifacts-tar:: $(ALL_COMMANDS_TO_INSTALL) $(SCRIPT_LIB) $(OTHER_PROGRAMS) \
 htmldocs = git-htmldocs-$(GIT_VERSION)
 manpages = git-manpages-$(GIT_VERSION)
 .PHONY: dist-doc distclean
-dist-doc:
+dist-doc: git$X
 	$(RM) -r .doc-tmp-dir
 	mkdir .doc-tmp-dir
 	$(MAKE) -C Documentation WEBDOC_DEST=../.doc-tmp-dir install-webdoc
-	cd .doc-tmp-dir && $(TAR) cf ../$(htmldocs).tar $(TAR_DIST_EXTRA_OPTS) .
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir init
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir add .
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir commit -m htmldocs
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir archive --format=tar --prefix=./ HEAD^{tree} \
+		> $(htmldocs).tar
 	gzip -n -9 -f $(htmldocs).tar
 	:
 	$(RM) -r .doc-tmp-dir
@@ -3116,7 +3117,11 @@ dist-doc:
 		man5dir=../.doc-tmp-dir/man5 \
 		man7dir=../.doc-tmp-dir/man7 \
 		install
-	cd .doc-tmp-dir && $(TAR) cf ../$(manpages).tar $(TAR_DIST_EXTRA_OPTS) .
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir init
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir add .
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir commit -m manpages
+	./git -C .doc-tmp-dir archive --format=tar --prefix=./ HEAD^{tree} \
+		> $(manpages).tar
 	gzip -n -9 -f $(manpages).tar
 	$(RM) -r .doc-tmp-dir