diff --git a/src/dir.c b/src/dir.c
index fb7bcc7c..6d0b0fc1 100644
--- a/src/dir.c
+++ b/src/dir.c
@@ -1292,7 +1292,6 @@ check_external_dir_mapping(pgBackup *backup)
 {
 	TablespaceListCell *cell;
 	parray *external_dirs_to_restore;
-	bool	found;
 	int		i;
 
 	if (!backup->external_dir_str)
@@ -1305,16 +1304,22 @@ check_external_dir_mapping(pgBackup *backup)
 	}
 
 	external_dirs_to_restore = make_external_directory_list(backup->external_dir_str);
+	/* 1 - each OLDDIR must have an entry in external_dirs_to_restore */
 	for (cell = external_remap_list.head; cell; cell = cell->next)
 	{
-		char *old_dir = cell->old_dir;
+		bool		found = false;
 
-		found = false;
 		for (i = 0; i < parray_num(external_dirs_to_restore); i++)
 		{
-			char *external_dir = parray_get(external_dirs_to_restore, i);
-			if (strcmp(old_dir, external_dir) == 0)
+			char	    *external_dir = parray_get(external_dirs_to_restore, i);
+
+			if (strcmp(cell->old_dir, external_dir) == 0)
 			{
+				/* Swap new dir name with old one, it is used by 2-nd step */
+				parray_set(external_dirs_to_restore, i,
+						   pgut_strdup(cell->new_dir));
+				pfree(external_dir);
+
 				found = true;
 				break;
 			}
@@ -1324,6 +1329,19 @@ check_external_dir_mapping(pgBackup *backup)
 				 "have an entry in list of external directories of current "
 				 "backup: \"%s\"", cell->old_dir);
 	}
+
+	/* 2 - all linked directories must be empty */
+	for (i = 0; i < parray_num(external_dirs_to_restore); i++)
+	{
+		char	    *external_dir = (char *) parray_get(external_dirs_to_restore,
+														i);
+
+		if (!dir_is_empty(external_dir, FIO_DB_HOST))
+			elog(ERROR, "External directory is not empty: \"%s\"",
+				 external_dir);
+	}
+
+	free_dir_list(external_dirs_to_restore);
 }
 
 char *
diff --git a/tests/external.py b/tests/external.py
index fa0d0e95..d22a7892 100644
--- a/tests/external.py
+++ b/tests/external.py
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ class ExternalTest(ProbackupTest, unittest.TestCase):
         self.restore_node(
             backup_dir, 'node', node,
             options=["-j", "4"])
-        
+
         pgdata_restored = self.pgdata_content(
             node.base_dir, exclude_dirs=['logs'])
         self.compare_pgdata(pgdata, pgdata_restored)
@@ -1441,7 +1441,7 @@ class ExternalTest(ProbackupTest, unittest.TestCase):
                     repr(self.output), self.cmd))
         except ProbackupException as e:
             self.assertTrue(
-                'Insert correct error message' in e.message,
+                'External directory is not empty' in e.message,
                 '\n Unexpected Error Message: {0}\n CMD: {1}'.format(
                     repr(e.message), self.cmd))
 
@@ -1466,7 +1466,7 @@ class ExternalTest(ProbackupTest, unittest.TestCase):
                     repr(self.output), self.cmd))
         except ProbackupException as e:
             self.assertTrue(
-                'Insert correct error message' in e.message,
+                'External directory is not empty' in e.message,
                 '\n Unexpected Error Message: {0}\n CMD: {1}'.format(
                     repr(e.message), self.cmd))