diff --git a/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/PermissionUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/PermissionUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e918a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/PermissionUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+package org.kamranzafar.jtar;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.FileSystems;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.attribute.PosixFilePermission;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+/**
+ * Helps dealing with file permissions.
+ */
+public class PermissionUtils {
+
+	/**
+	 * XXX: When using standard Java permissions, we treat 'owner' and 'group' equally and give no
+	 *      permissions for 'others'.
+	 */
+	private static enum StandardFilePermission {
+		EXECUTE(0110), WRITE(0220), READ(0440);
+
+		private int mode;
+
+		private StandardFilePermission(int mode) {
+			this.mode = mode;
+		}
+	}
+
+	private static Map<PosixFilePermission, Integer> posixPermissionToInteger = new HashMap<>();
+
+	static {
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.OWNER_EXECUTE, 0100);
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.OWNER_WRITE, 0200);
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.OWNER_READ, 0400);
+
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.GROUP_EXECUTE, 0010);
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.GROUP_WRITE, 0020);
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.GROUP_READ, 0040);
+
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.OTHERS_EXECUTE, 0001);
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.OTHERS_WRITE, 0002);
+		posixPermissionToInteger.put(PosixFilePermission.OTHERS_READ, 0004);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get file permissions in octal mode, e.g. 0755.
+	 *
+	 * Note: it uses `java.nio.file.attribute.PosixFilePermission` if OS supports this, otherwise reverts to
+	 * using standard Java file operations, e.g. `java.io.File#canExecute()`. In the first case permissions will
+	 * be precisely as reported by the OS, in the second case 'owner' and 'group' will have equal permissions and
+	 * 'others' will have no permissions, e.g. if file on Windows OS is `read-only` permissions will be `0550`.
+	 *
+	 * @throws NullPointerException if file is null.
+	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if file does not exist.
+	 */
+	public static int permissions(File f) {
+		if(f == null) {
+			throw new NullPointerException("File is null.");
+		}
+		if(!f.exists()) {
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException("File " + f + " does not exist.");
+		}
+
+		return isPosix ? posixPermissions(f) : standardPermissions(f);
+	}
+
+	private static final boolean isPosix = FileSystems.getDefault().supportedFileAttributeViews().contains("posix");
+
+	private static int posixPermissions(File f) {
+		int number = 0;
+		try {
+			Set<PosixFilePermission> permissions = Files.getPosixFilePermissions(f.toPath());
+			for (Map.Entry<PosixFilePermission, Integer> entry : posixPermissionToInteger.entrySet()) {
+				if (permissions.contains(entry.getKey())) {
+					number += entry.getValue();
+				}
+			}
+		} catch (IOException e) {
+			throw new RuntimeException(e);
+		}
+		return number;
+	}
+
+	private static Set<StandardFilePermission> readStandardPermissions(File f) {
+		Set<StandardFilePermission> permissions = new HashSet<>();
+		if(f.canExecute()) {
+			permissions.add(StandardFilePermission.EXECUTE);
+		}
+		if(f.canWrite()) {
+			permissions.add(StandardFilePermission.WRITE);
+		}
+		if(f.canRead()) {
+			permissions.add(StandardFilePermission.READ);
+		}
+		return permissions;
+	}
+
+	private static Integer standardPermissions(File f) {
+		int number = 0;
+		Set<StandardFilePermission> permissions = readStandardPermissions(f);
+		for (StandardFilePermission permission : permissions) {
+			number += permission.mode;
+		}
+		return number;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarEntry.java b/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarEntry.java
index fe01db4..9794f8b 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarEntry.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarEntry.java
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ public class TarEntry {
 	 * @param entryName
 	 */
 	public void extractTarHeader(String entryName) {
-		header = TarHeader.createHeader(entryName, file.length(), file.lastModified() / 1000, file.isDirectory());
+		int permissions = PermissionUtils.permissions(file);
+		header = TarHeader.createHeader(entryName, file.length(), file.lastModified() / 1000, file.isDirectory(), permissions);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarHeader.java b/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarHeader.java
index b9d3a86..e63271a 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarHeader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/TarHeader.java
@@ -206,12 +206,13 @@ public class TarHeader {
 	 * 
 	 * @return
 	 */
-	public static TarHeader createHeader(String entryName, long size, long modTime, boolean dir) {
+	public static TarHeader createHeader(String entryName, long size, long modTime, boolean dir, int permissions) {
 		String name = entryName;
 		name = TarUtils.trim(name.replace(File.separatorChar, '/'), '/');
 
 		TarHeader header = new TarHeader();
 		header.linkName = new StringBuffer("");
+		header.mode = permissions;
 
 		if (name.length() > 100) {
 			header.namePrefix = new StringBuffer(name.substring(0, name.lastIndexOf('/')));
@@ -219,16 +220,13 @@ public class TarHeader {
 		} else {
 			header.name = new StringBuffer(name);
 		}
-
 		if (dir) {
-			header.mode = 040755;
 			header.linkFlag = TarHeader.LF_DIR;
 			if (header.name.charAt(header.name.length() - 1) != '/') {
 				header.name.append("/");
 			}
 			header.size = 0;
 		} else {
-			header.mode = 0100644;
 			header.linkFlag = TarHeader.LF_NORMAL;
 			header.size = size;
 		}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/JTarTest.java b/src/test/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/JTarTest.java
index 235beb8..042550c 100755
--- a/src/test/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/JTarTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/kamranzafar/jtar/JTarTest.java
@@ -245,13 +245,15 @@ public class JTarTest {
 		String fileName = "file.txt";
 		long fileSize = 14523;
 		long modTime = System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000;
+		int permissions = 0755;
 
 		// Create a header object and check the fields
-		TarHeader fileHeader = TarHeader.createHeader(fileName, fileSize, modTime, false);
+		TarHeader fileHeader = TarHeader.createHeader(fileName, fileSize, modTime, false, permissions);
 		assertEquals(fileName, fileHeader.name.toString());
 		assertEquals(TarHeader.LF_NORMAL, fileHeader.linkFlag);
 		assertEquals(fileSize, fileHeader.size);
 		assertEquals(modTime, fileHeader.modTime);
+		assertEquals(permissions, fileHeader.mode);
 
 		// Create an entry from the header
 		TarEntry fileEntry = new TarEntry(fileHeader);