diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite.go
index 726a19b8f..9dfcf1336 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite.go
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ func rewriteSnapshot(ctx context.Context, repo *repository.Repository, sn *resti
 		return false, err
 	}
 
+	includeByNameFuncs, err := opts.IncludePatternOptions.CollectPatterns(Warnf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
 	metadata, err := opts.Metadata.convert()
 
 	if err != nil {
@@ -354,3 +359,53 @@ func runRewrite(ctx context.Context, opts RewriteOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, a
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// gatherFilters defines the method for walker.NodeRewrite
+func gatherFilters(rejectByNameFuncs []filter.RejectByNameFunc, includeByNameFuncs []filter.IncludeByNameFunc) (rewriteNode walker.NodeRewriteFunc) {
+
+	if len(includeByNameFuncs) > 0 {
+		inSelectByName := func(nodepath string, node *restic.Node) bool {
+			for _, include := range includeByNameFuncs {
+				if node.Type == restic.NodeTypeDir {
+					// always include directories
+					return true
+				}
+				flag1, flag2 := include(nodepath)
+				if flag1 && flag2 {
+					return flag1 && flag2
+				}
+			}
+			return false
+		}
+
+		rewriteNode = func(node *restic.Node, path string) *restic.Node {
+			if inSelectByName(path, node) {
+				if node.Type != restic.NodeTypeDir {
+					Verboseff("including %s\n", path)
+				}
+				return node
+			}
+			return nil
+		}
+	} else {
+		exSelectByName := func(nodepath string) bool {
+			for _, reject := range rejectByNameFuncs {
+				if reject(nodepath) {
+					return false
+				}
+			}
+			return true
+		}
+
+		rewriteNode = func(node *restic.Node, path string) *restic.Node {
+			if exSelectByName(path) {
+				return node
+			}
+
+			Verboseff("excluding %s\n", path)
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+
+	return rewriteNode
+}
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite_integration_test.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite_integration_test.go
index e89c974fb..26fcace41 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite_integration_test.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_rewrite_integration_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/filter"
diff --git a/internal/walker/rewriter.go b/internal/walker/rewriter.go
index f82423f13..852571995 100644
--- a/internal/walker/rewriter.go
+++ b/internal/walker/rewriter.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ type RewriteOpts struct {
 
 	AllowUnstableSerialization bool
 	DisableNodeCache           bool
-	RemoveEmptyDirectoryGlobal bool
+	KeepEmptyDirecoryGlobal    bool
 }
 
 type idMap map[restic.ID]restic.ID
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ func NewTreeRewriter(opts RewriteOpts) *TreeRewriter {
 	rw := &TreeRewriter{
 		opts: opts,
 	}
+	rw.opts.KeepEmptyDirecoryGlobal = true
+
 	if !opts.DisableNodeCache {
 		rw.replaces = make(idMap)
 	}
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ func NewTreeRewriter(opts RewriteOpts) *TreeRewriter {
 	return rw
 }
 
-func NewSnapshotSizeRewriter(rewriteNode NodeRewriteFunc, removeEmptyDirectoryGlobal bool) (*TreeRewriter, QueryRewrittenSizeFunc) {
+func NewSnapshotSizeRewriter(rewriteNode NodeRewriteFunc, keepEmptyDirecory bool) (*TreeRewriter, QueryRewrittenSizeFunc) {
 	var count uint
 	var size uint64
 
@@ -73,8 +75,8 @@ func NewSnapshotSizeRewriter(rewriteNode NodeRewriteFunc, removeEmptyDirectoryGl
 			return node
 		},
 		DisableNodeCache: true,
-		// RemoveEmptyDirectoryGlobal = false will force old behaviour for --exclude variants
-		RemoveEmptyDirectoryGlobal: removeEmptyDirectoryGlobal,
+		// KeepEmptyDirecoryGlobal will force old behaviour for --exclude variants
+		KeepEmptyDirecoryGlobal: keepEmptyDirecory,
 	})
 
 	ss := func() SnapshotSize {
@@ -118,16 +120,14 @@ func (t *TreeRewriter) RewriteTree(ctx context.Context, repo BlobLoadSaver, node
 	debug.Log("filterTree: %s, nodeId: %s\n", nodepath, nodeID.Str())
 
 	tb := restic.NewTreeJSONBuilder()
-	for _, node := range curTree.Nodes {
-		if ctx.Err() != nil {
-			return restic.ID{}, ctx.Err()
-		}
 
-		path := path.Join(nodepath, node.Name)
-		node = t.opts.RewriteNode(node, path)
-		if node == nil {
-			continue
-		}
+	// explicitely exclude empty directory - so it will be saved
+	if len(curTree.Nodes) > 0 {
+		countInserts := 0
+		for _, node := range curTree.Nodes {
+			if ctx.Err() != nil {
+				return restic.ID{}, ctx.Err()
+			}
 
 			path := path.Join(nodepath, node.Name)
 			node = t.opts.RewriteNode(node, path)
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ func (t *TreeRewriter) RewriteTree(ctx context.Context, repo BlobLoadSaver, node
 			}
 
 			// check for empty subtree condition here
-			if t.opts.RemoveEmptyDirectoryGlobal && err == nil && newID.IsNull() {
+			if !t.opts.KeepEmptyDirecoryGlobal && err == nil && newID.IsNull() {
 				continue
 			}
 
@@ -163,24 +163,11 @@ func (t *TreeRewriter) RewriteTree(ctx context.Context, repo BlobLoadSaver, node
 			if err != nil {
 				return restic.ID{}, err
 			}
-			continue
+			countInserts++
 		}
-		// treat nil as null id
-		var subtree restic.ID
-		if node.Subtree != nil {
-			subtree = *node.Subtree
-		}
-		newID, err := t.RewriteTree(ctx, repo, path, subtree)
-		if err != nil {
-			return restic.ID{}, err
-		}
-		node.Subtree = &newID
-		err = tb.AddNode(node)
-		if err != nil {
-			return restic.ID{}, err
 
 		// check for empty node list
-		if t.opts.RemoveEmptyDirectoryGlobal && countInserts == 0 {
+		if !t.opts.KeepEmptyDirecoryGlobal && countInserts == 0 {
 			// current subdirectory is empty - due to no includes: create condition here
 			return restic.ID{}, nil
 		}
diff --git a/internal/walker/rewriter_test.go b/internal/walker/rewriter_test.go
index 58dd25cd0..cc5ebd4a4 100644
--- a/internal/walker/rewriter_test.go
+++ b/internal/walker/rewriter_test.go
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ func TestSnapshotSizeQuery(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			return node
 		}
-		rewriter, querySize := NewSnapshotSizeRewriter(rewriteNode)
+		rewriter, querySize := NewSnapshotSizeRewriter(rewriteNode, false)
 		newRoot, err := rewriter.RewriteTree(ctx, modrepo, "/", root)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Error(err)