Ensuring directory absent with recursing source fails

When managing a File type, I want the ensure parameter to determined from a variable that could be either 'directory' or 'absent'. However, since I define both the 'recurse' and 'source' parameter of this resource, I get an error when ensure is 'absent' and recurse is 'true': puppet complains about trying to put files from the source directory in a directory that isn't there. When I put recurse to 'false', no errors are raised, but then I have to set recurse to false when ensure is absent. This is my workaround for now, but it seems not right.

Reproduction:

node default {

  file { ['/tmp/foo', '/tmp/foo/bar']:

    ensure => directory,

  }

  file { '/tmp/test':

    ensure  => absent,

    recurse => true,

    source  => '/tmp/foo',

  }

}

This results in:

Notice: Compiled catalog for localhost in environment production in 1.03 seconds

Notice: /Stage[main]/Main/Node[default]/File[/tmp/foo]/ensure: created

Notice: /Stage[main]/Main/Node[default]/File[/tmp/foo/bar]/ensure: created

Error: Cannot create /tmp/test/bar; parent directory /tmp/test does not exist

Error: /Stage[main]/Main/Node[default]/File[/tmp/test/bar]/ensure: change from absent to directory failed: Cannot create /tmp/test/bar; parent directory /tmp/test does not exist

Notice: Finished catalog run in 5.41 seconds

I would expect that the directory '/tmp/test' would just be deleted. A similar issue was reported and fixed years ago: https://projects.puppetlabs.com/issues/3180
Could this be regression?