diff --git a/src/tup/updater.c b/src/tup/updater.c
index 70049cdee..80dde8d82 100644
--- a/src/tup/updater.c
+++ b/src/tup/updater.c
@@ -1173,6 +1173,32 @@ static struct tup_entry *get_rel_tent(struct tup_entry *base, struct tup_entry *
 	if(!new)
 		return NULL;
 
+	if(tup_db_select_tent(new, tent->name.s, &sub) < 0)
+		return NULL;
+	if(sub) {
+		if(sub->type == TUP_NODE_GENERATED) {
+			/* If we have a generated file in the variant that is
+			 * now a directory, we need to force deleting that
+			 * output now so we can create the directory there
+			 * (t8115).
+			 */
+			if(delete_file(sub) < 0)
+				return NULL;
+			if(tup_del_id_force(sub->tnode.tupid, sub->type) < 0)
+				return NULL;
+		} else if(sub->type == TUP_NODE_GENERATED_DIR) {
+			/* If we have a generated output dir inside the
+			 * variant, just set its type to TUP_NODE_DIR since
+			 * that won't happen in tup_db_create_node_srcid()
+			 * below because of some logic to avoid changing
+			 * generated dir types during the scanning phase
+			 * (t8116).
+			 */
+			if(tup_db_set_type(sub, TUP_NODE_DIR) < 0)
+				return NULL;
+		}
+	}
+
 	sub = tup_db_create_node_srcid(new, tent->name.s, TUP_NODE_DIR, tent->tnode.tupid, &do_mkdir);
 	if(!sub) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "tup error: Unable to create tup node for variant directory: ");
diff --git a/test/t8115-variant-output-to-directory.sh b/test/t8115-variant-output-to-directory.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..63cbbdb20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/t8115-variant-output-to-directory.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#! /bin/sh -e
+# tup - A file-based build system
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2024  Mike Shal <marfey@gmail.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+# with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+# 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+
+# Have a variant output filename that then becomes a directory in the srcdir.
+# The output should be removed in the variant location and be re-created as a
+# directory.
+. ./tup.sh
+
+cat > Tupfile << HERE
+: |> gcc -c hello.c -o %o |> hello
+HERE
+mkdir build
+touch build/tup.config hello.c
+update
+
+mkdir hello
+mv Tupfile hello.c hello
+update
+
+check_exist build/hello/hello
+
+eotup
diff --git a/test/t8116-variant-output-to-directory2.sh b/test/t8116-variant-output-to-directory2.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..f7df71915
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/t8116-variant-output-to-directory2.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#! /bin/sh -e
+# tup - A file-based build system
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2024  Mike Shal <marfey@gmail.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+# with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+# 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+
+# Like t8115, but we have a generated directory in the variant.
+. ./tup.sh
+
+cat > Tupfile << HERE
+: |> gcc -c hello.c -o %o |> hello/out
+HERE
+mkdir build
+touch build/tup.config hello.c
+update
+
+mkdir hello
+mv Tupfile hello.c hello
+update
+
+check_exist build/hello/hello/out
+
+eotup