diff --git a/Lib/test/test_namespace_pkgs.py b/Lib/test/test_namespace_pkgs.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_namespace_pkgs.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_namespace_pkgs.py
@@ -254,9 +254,8 @@ class DynamicPathCalculation(NamespacePa
 class ZipWithMissingDirectory(NamespacePackageTest):
     paths = ['missing_directory.zip']
 
-    @unittest.expectedFailure
     def test_missing_directory(self):
-        # This will fail because missing_directory.zip contains:
+        # missing_directory.zip contains:
         #   Length      Date    Time    Name
         # ---------  ---------- -----   ----
         #        29  2012-05-03 18:13   foo/one.py
@@ -265,8 +264,8 @@ class ZipWithMissingDirectory(NamespaceP
         # ---------                     -------
         #        67                     3 files
 
-        # Because there is no 'foo/', the zipimporter currently doesn't
-        #  know that foo is a namespace package
+        # foo/ should be synthesised and added to zipimporter's internal state,
+        # allowing import foo.one to work.
 
         import foo.one
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -311,6 +311,9 @@ Extension Modules
 
 - Issue #15194: Update libffi to the 3.0.11 release.
 
+- Issue #14905: zipimport.c now does not require directory entries to exist in
+  the zipfile manifest in order to import modules within namespaces.
+
 Tools/Demos
 -----------
 
diff --git a/Modules/zipimport.c b/Modules/zipimport.c
--- a/Modules/zipimport.c
+++ b/Modules/zipimport.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ zipimporter_load_module(PyObject *obj, P
             goto error;
         err = PyDict_SetItemString(dict, "__path__", pkgpath);
         Py_DECREF(pkgpath);
-        if (err != 0)
+        if (err == -1)
             goto error;
     }
     mod = PyImport_ExecCodeModuleObject(fullname, code, modpath, NULL);
@@ -897,8 +897,10 @@ read_directory(PyObject *archive)
     /* Start of Central Directory */
     count = 0;
     for (;;) {
-        PyObject *t;
+        PyObject *toc_entry;
+        PyObject *dirnameobj = NULL;
         int err;
+        ssize_t nameobj_length;
 
         fseek(fp, header_offset, 0);  /* Start of file header */
         l = PyMarshal_ReadLongFromFile(fp);
@@ -960,15 +962,54 @@ read_directory(PyObject *archive)
         path = PyUnicode_FromFormat("%U%c%U", archive, SEP, nameobj);
         if (path == NULL)
             goto error;
-        t = Py_BuildValue("Nhllnhhl", path, compress, data_size,
+        toc_entry = Py_BuildValue("Nhllnhhl", path, compress, data_size,
                           file_size, file_offset, time, date, crc);
-        if (t == NULL)
+        if (toc_entry == NULL)
             goto error;
-        err = PyDict_SetItem(files, nameobj, t);
-        Py_CLEAR(nameobj);
-        Py_DECREF(t);
+        err = PyDict_SetItem(files, nameobj, toc_entry);
+        Py_DECREF(toc_entry);
         if (err != 0)
             goto error;
+            
+        nameobj_length = PyUnicode_GetLength(nameobj);
+        if (nameobj_length == -1)
+            goto error;
+
+        for (i = 0; i < nameobj_length - 1; i++) {
+            Py_UCS4 c = PyUnicode_READ_CHAR(nameobj, i);
+            if (c != SEP) 
+                continue;
+                
+            dirnameobj = PyUnicode_Substring(nameobj, 0, i + 1);
+            if (dirnameobj == NULL) {
+                goto error;
+            }
+            if (PyDict_Contains(files, dirnameobj)) {
+                Py_DECREF(dirnameobj);
+                continue;
+            }
+            
+            path = PyUnicode_FromFormat("%U%c%U", archive, SEP, dirnameobj);
+            if (path == NULL) {
+                Py_DECREF(dirnameobj);
+                goto error;
+            }
+            
+            toc_entry = Py_BuildValue("Ohllnhhl", path, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0);
+            Py_DECREF(path);
+            if (toc_entry == NULL) {
+                Py_DECREF(dirnameobj);
+                goto error;
+            }
+            err = PyDict_SetItem(files, dirnameobj, toc_entry);
+            Py_DECREF(dirnameobj);
+            Py_DECREF(toc_entry);
+            if (err != 0) {
+                goto error;
+            }
+            count++;
+        }
+        Py_DECREF(nameobj);
         count++;
     }
     fclose(fp);