diff --git a/src/nwarchive.c b/src/nwarchive.c
index c24145f..610f2fb 100644
--- a/src/nwarchive.c
+++ b/src/nwarchive.c
@@ -91,20 +91,42 @@ int mars_nwe_set_archive_info(char *unixname,
 
   if (set_date) {
     U16_TO_16(archive_date, d.archive_date);
-    d.flags |= MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_DATE;
+    if (archive_date)
+      d.flags |= MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_DATE;
+    else
+      d.flags &= (uint8)~MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_DATE;
   }
   if (set_time) {
     U16_TO_16(archive_time, d.archive_time);
-    d.flags |= MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_TIME;
+    if (archive_time)
+      d.flags |= MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_TIME;
+    else
+      d.flags &= (uint8)~MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_TIME;
   }
   if (set_archiver) {
     U32_TO_BE32(archiver_id, d.archiver_id);
-    d.flags |= MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_ARCHIVER;
+    if (archiver_id)
+      d.flags |= MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_ARCHIVER;
+    else
+      d.flags &= (uint8)~MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_HAS_ARCHIVER;
   }
 
   if (!unixname || !*unixname)
     return(0);
 
+  if (!d.flags) {
+    if (removexattr(unixname, MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_XATTR)) {
+      int err = errno;
+      if (err != ENODATA
+#ifdef ENOATTR
+          && err != ENOATTR
+#endif
+         )
+        XDPRINTF((5,0,"mars_nwe archive xattr remove ignored for %s errno=%d", unixname, err));
+    }
+    return(0);
+  }
+
   if (setxattr(unixname, MARS_NWE_ARCHIVE_XATTR, &d, sizeof(d), 0)) {
     int err = errno;
     /* Compatibility rule: NetWare archive metadata has no POSIX field.