diff --git a/packages/cache/__tests__/tar.test.ts b/packages/cache/__tests__/tar.test.ts
index e4233bc9..31f9bd5e 100644
--- a/packages/cache/__tests__/tar.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cache/__tests__/tar.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import * as exec from '@actions/exec'
 import * as io from '@actions/io'
 import * as path from 'path'
-import {CacheFilename, CompressionMethod} from '../src/internal/constants'
+import {
+  CacheFilename,
+  CompressionMethod,
+  GnuTarPathOnWindows
+} from '../src/internal/constants'
 import * as tar from '../src/internal/tar'
 import * as utils from '../src/internal/cacheUtils'
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
@@ -28,6 +32,10 @@ beforeAll(async () => {
   await jest.requireActual('@actions/io').rmRF(getTempDir())
 })
 
+beforeEach(async () => {
+  jest.restoreAllMocks()
+})
+
 afterAll(async () => {
   delete process.env['GITHUB_WORKSPACE']
   await jest.requireActual('@actions/io').rmRF(getTempDir())
@@ -41,13 +49,14 @@ test('zstd extract tar', async () => {
     ? `${process.env['windir']}\\fakepath\\cache.tar`
     : 'cache.tar'
   const workspace = process.env['GITHUB_WORKSPACE']
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
 
   await tar.extractTar(archivePath, CompressionMethod.Zstd)
 
   expect(mkdirMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(workspace)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-    `"${defaultTarPath}"`,
+    `"${tarPath}"`,
     [
       '--use-compress-program',
       IS_WINDOWS ? 'zstd -d --long=30' : 'unzstd --long=30',
@@ -74,9 +83,7 @@ test('gzip extract tar', async () => {
   await tar.extractTar(archivePath, CompressionMethod.Gzip)
 
   expect(mkdirMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(workspace)
-  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS
-    ? `${process.env['windir']}\\System32\\tar.exe`
-    : defaultTarPath
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
     `"${tarPath}"`,
@@ -87,18 +94,19 @@ test('gzip extract tar', async () => {
       '-P',
       '-C',
       IS_WINDOWS ? workspace?.replace(/\\/g, '/') : workspace
-    ].concat(IS_MAC ? ['--delay-directory-restore'] : []),
+    ]
+      .concat(IS_WINDOWS ? ['--force-local'] : [])
+      .concat(IS_MAC ? ['--delay-directory-restore'] : []),
     {cwd: undefined}
   )
 })
 
-test('gzip extract GNU tar on windows', async () => {
+test('gzip extract GNU tar on windows with GNUtar in path', async () => {
   if (IS_WINDOWS) {
-    jest.spyOn(fs, 'existsSync').mockReturnValueOnce(false)
-
+    // GNU tar present in path but not at default location
     const isGnuMock = jest
-      .spyOn(utils, 'isGnuTarInstalled')
-      .mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve(true))
+      .spyOn(utils, 'getGnuTarPathOnWindows')
+      .mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve('tar'))
     const execMock = jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec')
     const archivePath = `${process.env['windir']}\\fakepath\\cache.tar`
     const workspace = process.env['GITHUB_WORKSPACE']
@@ -134,9 +142,11 @@ test('zstd create tar', async () => {
 
   await tar.createTar(archiveFolder, sourceDirectories, CompressionMethod.Zstd)
 
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
+
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-    `"${defaultTarPath}"`,
+    `"${tarPath}"`,
     [
       '--posix',
       '--use-compress-program',
@@ -170,9 +180,7 @@ test('gzip create tar', async () => {
 
   await tar.createTar(archiveFolder, sourceDirectories, CompressionMethod.Gzip)
 
-  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS
-    ? `${process.env['windir']}\\System32\\tar.exe`
-    : defaultTarPath
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
 
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
@@ -189,7 +197,9 @@ test('gzip create tar', async () => {
       IS_WINDOWS ? workspace?.replace(/\\/g, '/') : workspace,
       '--files-from',
       'manifest.txt'
-    ].concat(IS_MAC ? ['--delay-directory-restore'] : []),
+    ]
+      .concat(IS_WINDOWS ? ['--force-local'] : [])
+      .concat(IS_MAC ? ['--delay-directory-restore'] : []),
     {
       cwd: archiveFolder
     }
@@ -205,9 +215,10 @@ test('zstd list tar', async () => {
 
   await tar.listTar(archivePath, CompressionMethod.Zstd)
 
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-    `"${defaultTarPath}"`,
+    `"${tarPath}"`,
     [
       '--use-compress-program',
       IS_WINDOWS ? 'zstd -d --long=30' : 'unzstd --long=30',
@@ -230,9 +241,10 @@ test('zstdWithoutLong list tar', async () => {
 
   await tar.listTar(archivePath, CompressionMethod.ZstdWithoutLong)
 
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-    `"${defaultTarPath}"`,
+    `"${tarPath}"`,
     [
       '--use-compress-program',
       IS_WINDOWS ? 'zstd -d' : 'unzstd',
@@ -254,9 +266,7 @@ test('gzip list tar', async () => {
 
   await tar.listTar(archivePath, CompressionMethod.Gzip)
 
-  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS
-    ? `${process.env['windir']}\\System32\\tar.exe`
-    : defaultTarPath
+  const tarPath = IS_WINDOWS ? GnuTarPathOnWindows : defaultTarPath
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(execMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
     `"${tarPath}"`,
@@ -265,7 +275,9 @@ test('gzip list tar', async () => {
       '-tf',
       IS_WINDOWS ? archivePath.replace(/\\/g, '/') : archivePath,
       '-P'
-    ].concat(IS_MAC ? ['--delay-directory-restore'] : []),
+    ]
+      .concat(IS_WINDOWS ? ['--force-local'] : [])
+      .concat(IS_MAC ? ['--delay-directory-restore'] : []),
     {cwd: undefined}
   )
 })
diff --git a/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheUtils.ts b/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheUtils.ts
index c2ace526..64fef08a 100644
--- a/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheUtils.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ import * as path from 'path'
 import * as semver from 'semver'
 import * as util from 'util'
 import {v4 as uuidV4} from 'uuid'
-import {CacheFilename, CompressionMethod} from './constants'
+import {
+  CacheFilename,
+  CompressionMethod,
+  GnuTarPathOnWindows
+} from './constants'
 
 // From https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/main/packages/tool-cache/src/tool-cache.ts#L23
 export async function createTempDirectory(): Promise<string> {
@@ -90,7 +94,7 @@ async function getVersion(app: string): Promise<string> {
 
 // Use zstandard if possible to maximize cache performance
 export async function getCompressionMethod(): Promise<CompressionMethod> {
-  if (process.platform === 'win32' && !(await isGnuTarInstalled())) {
+  if (process.platform === 'win32' && !(await getGnuTarPathOnWindows())) {
     // Disable zstd due to bug https://github.com/actions/cache/issues/301
     return CompressionMethod.Gzip
   }
@@ -116,9 +120,12 @@ export function getCacheFileName(compressionMethod: CompressionMethod): string {
     : CacheFilename.Zstd
 }
 
-export async function isGnuTarInstalled(): Promise<boolean> {
+export async function getGnuTarPathOnWindows(): Promise<string> {
+  if (fs.existsSync(GnuTarPathOnWindows)) {
+    return GnuTarPathOnWindows
+  }
   const versionOutput = await getVersion('tar')
-  return versionOutput.toLowerCase().includes('gnu tar')
+  return versionOutput.toLowerCase().includes('gnu tar') ? io.which('tar') : ''
 }
 
 export function assertDefined<T>(name: string, value?: T): T {
diff --git a/packages/cache/src/internal/constants.ts b/packages/cache/src/internal/constants.ts
index 2f78d326..e61b46f4 100644
--- a/packages/cache/src/internal/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/cache/src/internal/constants.ts
@@ -21,3 +21,6 @@ export const DefaultRetryDelay = 5000
 // over the socket during this period, the socket is destroyed and the download
 // is aborted.
 export const SocketTimeout = 5000
+
+// The default path of GNUtar on hosted Windows runners
+export const GnuTarPathOnWindows = `${process.env['PROGRAMFILES']}\\Git\\usr\\bin\\tar.exe`
diff --git a/packages/cache/src/internal/tar.ts b/packages/cache/src/internal/tar.ts
index 2e28ca1a..42692008 100644
--- a/packages/cache/src/internal/tar.ts
+++ b/packages/cache/src/internal/tar.ts
@@ -7,21 +7,17 @@ import {CompressionMethod} from './constants'
 
 const IS_WINDOWS = process.platform === 'win32'
 
-async function getTarPath(
-  args: string[],
-  compressionMethod: CompressionMethod
-): Promise<string> {
+async function getTarPath(args: string[]): Promise<string> {
   switch (process.platform) {
     case 'win32': {
+      const gnuTar = await utils.getGnuTarPathOnWindows()
       const systemTar = `${process.env['windir']}\\System32\\tar.exe`
-      if (compressionMethod !== CompressionMethod.Gzip) {
-        // We only use zstandard compression on windows when gnu tar is installed due to
-        // a bug with compressing large files with bsdtar + zstd
+      if (gnuTar) {
+        // Use GNUtar as default on windows
         args.push('--force-local')
+        return gnuTar
       } else if (existsSync(systemTar)) {
         return systemTar
-      } else if (await utils.isGnuTarInstalled()) {
-        args.push('--force-local')
       }
       break
     }
@@ -40,13 +36,9 @@ async function getTarPath(
   return await io.which('tar', true)
 }
 
-async function execTar(
-  args: string[],
-  compressionMethod: CompressionMethod,
-  cwd?: string
-): Promise<void> {
+async function execTar(args: string[], cwd?: string): Promise<void> {
   try {
-    await exec(`"${await getTarPath(args, compressionMethod)}"`, args, {cwd})
+    await exec(`"${await getTarPath(args)}"`, args, {cwd})
   } catch (error) {
     throw new Error(`Tar failed with error: ${error?.message}`)
   }
@@ -85,7 +77,7 @@ export async function listTar(
     archivePath.replace(new RegExp(`\\${path.sep}`, 'g'), '/'),
     '-P'
   ]
-  await execTar(args, compressionMethod)
+  await execTar(args)
 }
 
 export async function extractTar(
@@ -103,7 +95,7 @@ export async function extractTar(
     '-C',
     workingDirectory.replace(new RegExp(`\\${path.sep}`, 'g'), '/')
   ]
-  await execTar(args, compressionMethod)
+  await execTar(args)
 }
 
 export async function createTar(
@@ -151,5 +143,5 @@ export async function createTar(
     '--files-from',
     manifestFilename
   ]
-  await execTar(args, compressionMethod, archiveFolder)
+  await execTar(args, archiveFolder)
 }