Index: Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py	(revision 67926)
+++ Lib/distutils/command/sdist.py	(working copy)
@@ -447,6 +447,9 @@
 
         self.make_release_tree(base_dir, self.filelist.files)
         archive_files = []              # remember names of files we create
+        # tar archive must be created last to avoid overwrite and remove
+        if 'tar' in self.formats:
+            self.formats.append(self.formats.pop(self.formats.index('tar')))
         for fmt in self.formats:
             file = self.make_archive(base_name, fmt, base_dir=base_dir)
             archive_files.append(file)