diff --git a/src/svn.cpp b/src/svn.cpp
index 29aa4bf..c85b922 100644
--- a/src/svn.cpp
+++ b/src/svn.cpp
@@ -1131,6 +1131,7 @@ int SvnRevision::checkParentNotEmpty(apr_pool_t *pool, const char *key, QString
 
     apr_hash_t *entries;
     SVN_ERR(svn_fs_dir_entries(&entries, fs_root, parentKey.toStdString().c_str(), pool));
+    // directory is not empty
     if (apr_hash_count(entries)!=0) {
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
@@ -1141,6 +1142,19 @@ int SvnRevision::checkParentNotEmpty(apr_pool_t *pool, const char *key, QString
     index = cleanPath.lastIndexOf(slash);
     QString parentPath = cleanPath.left(index);
 
+    // if svn-ignore should have added a .gitignore file, do not overwrite it with an empty one
+    // if svn:ignore could not be determined, stay safe and do not overwrite the .gitignore file
+    // even if then an empty directory might be missing
+    QString svnignore;
+    if (CommandLineParser::instance()->contains("svn-ignore")) {
+        if (fetchIgnoreProps(&svnignore, pool, parentKey.toStdString().c_str(), fs_root) != EXIT_SUCCESS) {
+            qWarning() << "Error fetching svn-properties (" << parentKey << ")";
+            return EXIT_FAILURE;
+        } else if (!svnignore.isNull()) {
+            return EXIT_FAILURE;
+        }
+    }
+
     // Add gitignore-File
     QString gitIgnorePath = parentPath + "/.gitignore";
     QIODevice *io = txn->addFile(gitIgnorePath, 33188, 0);
diff --git a/test/empty-dirs.bats b/test/empty-dirs.bats
index b595876..674f1cf 100644
--- a/test/empty-dirs.bats
+++ b/test/empty-dirs.bats
@@ -213,3 +213,251 @@ load 'common'
 
     assert [ "$(grep -c '^M .* dir-a/file-a$' git-repo.fi)" -eq 1 ]
 }
+
+@test 'deleting last file from a directory should add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter' {
+    svn mkdir dir-a
+    touch dir-a/file-a
+    svn add dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/file-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/file-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" ''
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last file from a directory should add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter (nested)' {
+    svn mkdir project-a
+    cd project-a
+    svn mkdir dir-a
+    touch dir-a/file-a
+    svn add dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/file-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/file-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /project-a/
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" ''
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last file from a directory should not add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter and svn-ignore-parameter if there is an svn:ignore property' {
+    svn mkdir dir-a
+    touch dir-a/file-a
+    svn add dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/file-a'
+    svn propset svn:ignore 'ignore-a' dir-a
+    svn commit -m 'ignore ignore-a on dir-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/file-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --svn-ignore --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" '/ignore-a'
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last file from a directory should not add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter and svn-ignore-parameter if there is an svn:ignore property (nested)' {
+    svn mkdir project-a
+    cd project-a
+    svn mkdir dir-a
+    touch dir-a/file-a
+    svn add dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/file-a'
+    svn propset svn:ignore 'ignore-a' dir-a
+    svn commit -m 'ignore ignore-a on dir-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/file-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/file-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --svn-ignore --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /project-a/
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" '/ignore-a'
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last directory from a directory should add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter' {
+    svn mkdir --parents dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/subdir-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/subdir-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" ''
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last directory from a directory should add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter (nested)' {
+    svn mkdir project-a
+    cd project-a
+    svn mkdir --parents dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/subdir-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/subdir-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /project-a/
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" ''
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last directory from a directory should not add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter and svn-ignore-parameter if there is an svn:ignore property' {
+    svn mkdir --parents dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/subdir-a'
+    svn propset svn:ignore 'ignore-a' dir-a
+    svn commit -m 'ignore ignore-a on dir-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/subdir-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --svn-ignore --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" '/ignore-a'
+}
+
+@test 'deleting last directory from a directory should not add empty .gitignore with empty-dirs-parameter and svn-ignore-parameter if there is an svn:ignore property (nested)' {
+    svn mkdir project-a
+    cd project-a
+    svn mkdir --parents dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a/subdir-a'
+    svn propset svn:ignore 'ignore-a' dir-a
+    svn commit -m 'ignore ignore-a on dir-a'
+    svn rm dir-a/subdir-a
+    svn commit -m 'delete dir-a/subdir-a'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --svn-ignore --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /project-a/
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    refute git -C git-repo show master:.gitignore
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" '/ignore-a'
+}
+
+@test 'copying an empty directory should put empty .gitignore file to copy with empty-dirs parameter' {
+    svn mkdir dir-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a'
+    svn cp dir-a dir-b
+    svn commit -m 'copy dir-a to dir-b'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" ''
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-b/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-b/.gitignore)" ''
+}
+
+@test 'copying an empty directory should put empty .gitignore file to copy with empty-dirs parameter (nested)' {
+    svn mkdir project-a
+    cd project-a
+    svn mkdir dir-a
+    svn commit -m 'add dir-a'
+    svn cp dir-a dir-b
+    svn commit -m 'copy dir-a to dir-b'
+
+    cd "$TEST_TEMP_DIR"
+    svn2git "$SVN_REPO" --empty-dirs --rules <(echo "
+        create repository git-repo
+        end repository
+
+        match /project-a/
+            repository git-repo
+            branch master
+        end match
+    ")
+
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-a/.gitignore)" ''
+    assert git -C git-repo show master:dir-b/.gitignore
+    assert_equal "$(git -C git-repo show master:dir-b/.gitignore)" ''
+}