diff --git a/lib/puppet/module_tool/applications/unpacker.rb b/lib/puppet/module_tool/applications/unpacker.rb
index e9b0b50d1..3ed6058f3 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/module_tool/applications/unpacker.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/module_tool/applications/unpacker.rb
@@ -1,48 +1,67 @@
 require 'pathname'
 require 'tmpdir'
 
 module Puppet::ModuleTool
   module Applications
     class Unpacker < Application
 
       def initialize(filename, options = {})
         @filename = Pathname.new(filename)
         parsed = parse_filename(filename)
         super(options)
         @module_dir = Pathname.new(options[:target_dir]) + parsed[:dir_name]
       end
 
       def run
         extract_module_to_install_dir
 
         # Return the Pathname object representing the directory where the
         # module release archive was unpacked the to, and the module release
         # name.
         @module_dir
       end
 
+      # Obtain a suitable temporary path for building and unpacking tarballs
+      #
+      # @return [Pathname] path to temporary build location
+      def build_dir
+        Puppet::Forge::Cache.base_path + "tmp-unpacker-#{Digest::SHA1.hexdigest(@filename.basename.to_s)}"
+      end
+
       private
       def extract_module_to_install_dir
         delete_existing_installation_or_abort!
 
-        build_dir = Puppet::Forge::Cache.base_path + "tmp-unpacker-#{Digest::SHA1.hexdigest(@filename.basename.to_s)}"
         build_dir.mkpath
         begin
-          unless system "tar xzf #{@filename} -C #{build_dir}"
-            raise RuntimeError, "Could not extract contents of module archive."
+          begin
+            if Facter.value('operatingsystem') == "Solaris"
+              # Solaris tar is not as safe and works differently, so we prefer
+              # gnutar instead.
+              if Puppet::Util.which('gtar')
+                Puppet::Util.execute("gtar xzf #{@filename} -C #{build_dir}")
+              else
+                raise RuntimeError, "Cannot find the command 'gtar'. Make sure GNU tar is installed, and is in your PATH."
+              end
+            else
+              Puppet::Util.execute("tar xzf #{@filename} -C #{build_dir}")
+            end
+          rescue Puppet::ExecutionFailure => e
+            raise RuntimeError, "Could not extract contents of module archive: #{e.message}"
           end
+
           # grab the first directory
           extracted = build_dir.children.detect { |c| c.directory? }
           FileUtils.mv extracted, @module_dir
         ensure
           build_dir.rmtree
         end
       end
 
       def delete_existing_installation_or_abort!
         return unless @module_dir.exist?
         FileUtils.rm_rf(@module_dir, :secure => true)
       end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/module_tool/applications/unpacker_spec.rb b/spec/unit/module_tool/applications/unpacker_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7db0b7d0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/unit/module_tool/applications/unpacker_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+require 'puppet/module_tool/applications'
+require 'puppet_spec/modules'
+
+describe Puppet::ModuleTool::Applications::Unpacker, :fails_on_windows => true do
+  include PuppetSpec::Files
+
+  let(:target) { tmpdir("unpacker") }
+
+  context "initialization" do
+    it "should support filename and basic options" do
+      Puppet::ModuleTool::Applications::Unpacker.new("myusername-mytarball-1.0.0.tar.gz", :target_dir => target)
+    end
+
+    it "should raise ArgumentError when filename is invalid" do
+      expect { Puppet::ModuleTool::Applications::Unpacker.new("invalid.tar.gz", :target_dir => target) }.to raise_error(ArgumentError)
+    end
+  end
+
+  context "#run" do
+    let(:cache_base_path) { Pathname.new(tmpdir("unpacker")) }
+    let(:filename) { tmpdir("module") + "/myusername-mytarball-1.0.0.tar.gz" }
+    let(:build_dir) { Pathname.new(tmpdir("build_dir")) }
+    let(:unpacker) do
+      Puppet::ModuleTool::Applications::Unpacker.new(filename, :target_dir => target)
+    end
+
+    before :each do
+      # Mock redhat for most test cases
+      Facter.stubs(:value).with("operatingsystem").returns("Redhat")
+      build_dir.stubs(:mkpath => nil, :rmtree => nil, :children => [])
+      unpacker.stubs(:build_dir).at_least_once.returns(build_dir)
+      FileUtils.stubs(:mv)
+    end
+
+    context "on linux" do
+      it "should attempt to untar file to temporary location using system tar" do
+        Puppet::Util.expects(:execute).with("tar xzf #{filename} -C #{build_dir}").returns(true)
+        unpacker.run
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "on solaris" do
+      before :each do
+        Facter.expects(:value).with("operatingsystem").returns("Solaris")
+      end
+
+      it "should attempt to untar file to temporary location using gnu tar" do
+        Puppet::Util.stubs(:which).with('gtar').returns('/usr/sfw/bin/gtar')
+        Puppet::Util.expects(:execute).with("gtar xzf #{filename} -C #{build_dir}").returns(true)
+        unpacker.run
+      end
+
+      it "should throw exception if gtar is not in the path exists" do
+        Puppet::Util.stubs(:which).with('gtar').returns(nil)
+        expect { unpacker.run }.to raise_error RuntimeError, "Cannot find the command 'gtar'. Make sure GNU tar is installed, and is in your PATH."
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+end