diff --git a/ghcup b/ghcup
index f17a192..78782de 100755
--- a/ghcup
+++ b/ghcup
@@ -565,14 +565,47 @@ get_ghc_location() {
 # @USAGE: <url>
 # @DESCRIPTION:
 # Downloads the given url as a file into the current directory.
-# @RETURN: status code from the downloader
 download() {
     [ -z "$1" ] && die "Internal error: no argument given to download"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-    ${DOWNLOADER} ${DOWNLOADER_OPTS} "$1"
-    return $?
+    edo ${DOWNLOADER} ${DOWNLOADER_OPTS} "$1"
 }
 
+# @FUNCTION: unpack
+# @USAGE: <tarball>
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# Uncompresses and unpacks the given tarball if needed by discovering the
+# file extension.
+unpack() {
+    [ -z "$1" ] && die "Internal error: no argument given to unpack"
+
+    filename=$1
+    file_ext=${filename##*.}
+
+    # this is for portability, since not all
+    # distros have tar with compression detection
+    # capability
+    case "${file_ext}" in
+        xz)
+            debug_message "xz -cd \"${filename}\" | tar -xf -"
+            ( xz -cd "${filename}" | tar -xf - ; ) || die "unpacking failed!"
+            ;;
+        gz)
+            debug_message "gzip -cd \"${filename}\" | tar -xf -"
+            ( gzip -cd "${filename}" | tar -xf - ; ) || die "unpacking failed!"
+            ;;
+        tar)
+            edo tar -xf "${filename}"
+            ;;
+        *)
+            die "Unknown file extension: \"${file_ext}\""
+    esac
+
+    unset filename file_ext
+}
+
+
+
 
 
     ############################
@@ -608,9 +641,9 @@ install_ghc() {
     (
         edo cd "${tmp_dir}"
 
-        edo download "${download_url}"
+        download "${download_url}"
 
-        edo tar -xf ghc-*-linux.tar.xz
+        unpack "${download_tarball_name}"
         edo cd "ghc-${myghcver}"
 
         debug_message "Installing GHC into ${inst_location}"
@@ -730,7 +763,7 @@ self_update() {
 
     (
         edo cd "$(mktemp -d)"
-        edo download "${SCRIPT_UPDATE_URL}"
+        download "${SCRIPT_UPDATE_URL}"
         edo chmod +x ghcup
         edo mv -f ghcup "${target_location}"/ghcup
 
@@ -859,9 +892,10 @@ install_cabal() {
 
     (
         edo cd "$(mktemp -d)"
-        edo download "https://downloads.haskell.org/~cabal/cabal-install-${mycabalver}/cabal-install-${mycabalver}-${myarch}-unknown-linux.tar.gz"
-        edo tar -xzf "cabal-install-${mycabalver}-${myarch}-unknown-linux.tar.gz"
+        download "https://downloads.haskell.org/~cabal/cabal-install-${mycabalver}/cabal-install-${mycabalver}-${myarch}-unknown-linux.tar.gz"
+        unpack "cabal-install-${mycabalver}-${myarch}-unknown-linux.tar.gz"
         edo mv -f cabal "${inst_location}"/cabal
+        rm "cabal-install-${mycabalver}-${myarch}-unknown-linux.tar.gz"
     ) || die "Failed to install cabal-install"
 
     status_message "Successfully installed cabal-install into"
@@ -914,7 +948,7 @@ compile_ghc() {
     (
         edo cd "${tmp_dir}"
 
-        edo download "${download_url}"
+        download "${download_url}"
 
         edo tar -xf ghc-*-src.tar.xz
         edo cd "ghc-${myghcver}"