diff --git a/Sources/ContainerBuild/BuildFSSync.swift b/Sources/ContainerBuild/BuildFSSync.swift
index 5d228ae9..fcb30160 100644
--- a/Sources/ContainerBuild/BuildFSSync.swift
+++ b/Sources/ContainerBuild/BuildFSSync.swift
@@ -233,6 +233,9 @@ actor BuildFSSync: BuildPipelineHandler {
     /// This is the primary data path for build-context transfer. BuildKit sends
     /// a `Walk` request whose `followpaths` field names the context paths needed
     /// for the current build step (e.g. the source of a `COPY` instruction).
+    /// If `followpaths` is omitted or empty (meaning the build step requires the
+    /// entire context, such as a step with a tmpfs mount), all files in the
+    /// context root are included.
     /// The host resolves those globs, builds an entry set, and passes it to
     /// `Archiver.compress` to produce the tar.
     ///
@@ -253,7 +256,7 @@ actor BuildFSSync: BuildPipelineHandler {
         let wantsTar = packet.mode() == "tar"
 
         var entries: [String: Set<DirEntry>] = [:]
-        let followPaths: [String] = packet.followPaths() ?? []
+        let followPaths: [String] = packet.followPaths().flatMap { $0.isEmpty ? nil : $0 } ?? ["."]
 
         let followPathsWalked = try walk(root: self.contextDir, includePatterns: followPaths)
         for url in followPathsWalked {
diff --git a/Tests/ContainerBuildTests/BuildFSSyncTests.swift b/Tests/ContainerBuildTests/BuildFSSyncTests.swift
index 61e5069f..738ddba5 100644
--- a/Tests/ContainerBuildTests/BuildFSSyncTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/ContainerBuildTests/BuildFSSyncTests.swift
@@ -534,6 +534,53 @@ import Testing
         let secretLeak = infos.first { $0.name.hasSuffix("secret.txt") }
         #expect(secretLeak == nil, "no entry for the external file should appear in walk() results: \(infos.map { $0.name })")
     }
+
+    // MARK: - walk(): empty or omitted followpaths requests entire context
+    //
+    // BuildKit omits followpaths when a build step needs the whole context
+    // (for example, RUN --mount=type=tmpfs). An empty or omitted followpaths
+    // must result in the entire context being served rather than an empty
+    // result.
+
+    @Test func testWalkJSONEmptyFollowPathsIncludesEntireContext() async throws {
+        try write("hello", to: contextDir.appendingPathComponent("a.txt"))
+        try write("world", to: contextDir.appendingPathComponent("b.txt"))
+
+        let fssync = try BuildFSSync(contextDir)
+        let infos = try await walkJSON(fssync, followPaths: [])
+
+        #expect(infos.contains { $0.name == "a.txt" }, "a.txt should be included when followpaths is empty")
+        #expect(infos.contains { $0.name == "b.txt" }, "b.txt should be included when followpaths is empty")
+    }
+
+    @Test func testWalkJSONMissingFollowPathsMetadataIncludesEntireContext() async throws {
+        try write("hello", to: contextDir.appendingPathComponent("a.txt"))
+        try write("world", to: contextDir.appendingPathComponent("b.txt"))
+
+        let fssync = try BuildFSSync(contextDir)
+        var p = BuildTransfer()
+        p.id = UUID().uuidString
+        p.source = "."
+        p.metadata = [
+            "mode": "json"
+        ]
+
+        var continuation: AsyncStream<ClientStream>.Continuation!
+        let stream = AsyncStream<ClientStream> { continuation = $0 }
+        try await fssync.walk(continuation, p, "build-0")
+        continuation.finish()
+
+        var fileInfos: [BuildFSSync.FileInfo] = []
+        for await resp in stream {
+            let data = resp.buildTransfer.data
+            if !data.isEmpty {
+                fileInfos += try JSONDecoder().decode([BuildFSSync.FileInfo].self, from: data)
+            }
+        }
+
+        #expect(fileInfos.contains { $0.name == "a.txt" }, "a.txt should be included when followpaths metadata is omitted")
+        #expect(fileInfos.contains { $0.name == "b.txt" }, "b.txt should be included when followpaths metadata is omitted")
+    }
 }
 
 private final class ManagedAtomicFlag: @unchecked Sendable {
diff --git a/Tests/IntegrationTests/Build/TestCLIBuilder.swift b/Tests/IntegrationTests/Build/TestCLIBuilder.swift
index 95d4f74f..9b181491 100644
--- a/Tests/IntegrationTests/Build/TestCLIBuilder.swift
+++ b/Tests/IntegrationTests/Build/TestCLIBuilder.swift
@@ -496,6 +496,26 @@ struct TestCLIBuilder {
         }
     }
 
+    @Test func testRunWithTmpfsMount() async throws {
+        try await ContainerFixture.with { f in
+            let dir = try f.createTempDir()
+            try f.createContext(
+                dir: dir,
+                dockerfile: """
+                    FROM ghcr.io/linuxcontainers/alpine:3.20
+                    COPY a.txt b.txt /out/
+                    RUN --mount=type=tmpfs,dst=/scratch ls -l /out
+                    """,
+                context: [
+                    .file("a.txt", content: .data("one\n".data(using: .utf8)!)),
+                    .file("b.txt", content: .data("two\n".data(using: .utf8)!)),
+                ])
+            let image = "registry.local/tmpfs-mount-test:\(UUID().uuidString)"
+            try f.build(tag: image, contextDir: dir)
+            try f.assertImageBuilt(image)
+        }
+    }
+
     // MARK: - .dockerignore tests
 
     @Test func testBuildDockerIgnore() async throws {