diff --git a/doc/05-repositories.md b/doc/05-repositories.md
index b32d92690..12a9dced0 100644
--- a/doc/05-repositories.md
+++ b/doc/05-repositories.md
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ There are some cases, when there is no ability to have one of the previously
 mentioned repository types online, even the VCS one. Typical example could be
 cross-organisation library exchange through built artifacts. Of course, most
 of the times they are private. To simplify maintenance, one can simply use a
-repository of type `artifact` with a folder containing ZIP archives of those
+repository of type `artifact` with a folder containing ZIP or TAR archives of those
 private packages:
 
 ```json
diff --git a/src/Composer/Repository/ArtifactRepository.php b/src/Composer/Repository/ArtifactRepository.php
index f8b068218..4f03fc7eb 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Repository/ArtifactRepository.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Repository/ArtifactRepository.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use Composer\IO\IOInterface;
 use Composer\Json\JsonFile;
 use Composer\Package\Loader\ArrayLoader;
 use Composer\Package\Loader\LoaderInterface;
+use Composer\Util\Tar;
 use Composer\Util\Zip;
 
 /**
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ class ArtifactRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableReposito
 
         $directory = new \RecursiveDirectoryIterator($path, \RecursiveDirectoryIterator::FOLLOW_SYMLINKS);
         $iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator($directory);
-        $regex = new \RegexIterator($iterator, '/^.+\.(zip|phar)$/i');
+        $regex = new \RegexIterator($iterator, '/^.+\.(zip|phar|tar|gz|tgz)$/i');
         foreach ($regex as $file) {
             /* @var $file \SplFileInfo */
             if (!$file->isFile()) {
@@ -89,8 +90,22 @@ class ArtifactRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableReposito
     private function getComposerInformation(\SplFileInfo $file)
     {
         $json = null;
+        $fileType = null;
+        $fileExtension = pathinfo($file->getPathname(), PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
+        if (in_array($fileExtension, array('gz', 'tar', 'tgz'), true)) {
+            $fileType = 'tar';
+        } else if ($fileExtension === 'zip') {
+            $fileType = 'zip';
+        } else {
+            throw new \RuntimeException('Files with "'.$fileExtension.'" extensions aren\'t supported. Only ZIP and TAR/TAR.GZ/TGZ archives are supported.');
+        }
+
         try {
-            $json = Zip::getComposerJson($file->getPathname());
+            if ($fileType === 'tar') {
+                $json = Tar::getComposerJson($file->getPathname());
+            } else {
+                $json = Zip::getComposerJson($file->getPathname());
+            }
         } catch (\Exception $exception) {
             $this->io->write('Failed loading package '.$file->getPathname().': '.$exception->getMessage(), false, IOInterface::VERBOSE);
         }
@@ -101,7 +116,7 @@ class ArtifactRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableReposito
 
         $package = JsonFile::parseJson($json, $file->getPathname().'#composer.json');
         $package['dist'] = array(
-            'type' => 'zip',
+            'type' => $fileType,
             'url' => strtr($file->getPathname(), '\\', '/'),
             'shasum' => sha1_file($file->getRealPath()),
         );
diff --git a/src/Composer/Util/Tar.php b/src/Composer/Util/Tar.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cae69c906
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Composer/Util/Tar.php
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Composer.
+ *
+ * (c) Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ *     Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Composer\Util;
+
+/**
+ * @author Wissem Riahi <wissemr@gmail.com>
+ */
+class Tar
+{
+    /**
+     * @param string $pathToArchive
+     *
+     * @return string|null
+     */
+    public static function getComposerJson($pathToArchive)
+    {
+        $phar = new \PharData($pathToArchive);
+
+        if (!$phar->valid()) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        return self::extractComposerJsonFromFolder($phar);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param \PharData $phar
+     *
+     * @throws \RuntimeException
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    private static function extractComposerJsonFromFolder(\PharData $phar)
+    {
+        if (isset($phar['composer.json'])) {
+            return $phar['composer.json']->getContent();
+        }
+
+        $topLevelPaths = array();
+        foreach ($phar as $folderFile) {
+            $name = $folderFile->getBasename();
+
+            if ($folderFile->isDir()) {
+                $topLevelPaths[$name] = true;
+                if (\count($topLevelPaths) > 1) {
+                    throw new \RuntimeException('Archive has more than one top level directories, and no composer.json was found on the top level, so it\'s an invalid archive. Top level paths found were: '.implode(',', array_keys($topLevelPaths)));
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        $composerJsonPath = key($topLevelPaths).'/composer.json';
+        if ($topLevelPaths && isset($phar[$composerJsonPath])) {
+            return $phar[$composerJsonPath]->getContent();
+        }
+
+        throw new \RuntimeException('No composer.json found either at the top level or within the topmost directory');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/ArtifactRepositoryTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/ArtifactRepositoryTest.php
index 506a033c4..ad7a69009 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/ArtifactRepositoryTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/ArtifactRepositoryTest.php
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class ArtifactRepositoryTest extends TestCase
             'vendor1/package2-4.3.2',
             'vendor3/package1-5.4.3',
             'test/jsonInRoot-1.0.0',
+            'test/jsonInRootTarFile-1.0.0',
             'test/jsonInFirstLevel-1.0.0',
             //The files not-an-artifact.zip and jsonSecondLevel are not valid
             //artifacts and do not get detected.
@@ -52,6 +53,13 @@ class ArtifactRepositoryTest extends TestCase
         sort($foundPackages);
 
         $this->assertSame($expectedPackages, $foundPackages);
+
+        $tarPackage = array_filter($repo->getPackages(), function (BasePackage $package) {
+            return $package->getPrettyName() === 'test/jsonInRootTarFile';
+        });
+        $this->assertCount(1, $tarPackage);
+        $tarPackage = array_pop($tarPackage);
+        $this->assertSame('tar', $tarPackage->getDistType());
     }
 
     public function testAbsoluteRepoUrlCreatesAbsoluteUrlPackages()
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/Fixtures/artifacts/jsonInRooTarFile.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/Fixtures/artifacts/jsonInRooTarFile.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d2938703
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Repository/Fixtures/artifacts/jsonInRooTarFile.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/empty.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/empty.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..805860f87
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/empty.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/folder.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/folder.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..205472426
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/folder.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/multiple.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/multiple.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..179a5bd97
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/multiple.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/nojson.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/nojson.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d6a64264d
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/nojson.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/root.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/root.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b2e272e90
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/root.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/subfolders.tar.gz b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/subfolders.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8fb347604
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/Fixtures/Tar/subfolders.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/TarTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/TarTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b14d0c0f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/TarTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of Composer.
+ *
+ * (c) Nils Adermann <naderman@naderman.de>
+ *     Jordi Boggiano <j.boggiano@seld.be>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Composer\Test\Util;
+
+use Composer\Util\Tar;
+use Composer\Test\TestCase;
+
+/**
+ * @author Wissem Riahi <wissemr@gmail.com>
+ */
+class TarTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testReturnsNullifTheTarIsNotFound()
+    {
+        $result = Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/invalid.zip');
+
+        $this->assertNull($result);
+    }
+
+    public function testReturnsNullIfTheTarIsEmpty()
+    {
+        $result = Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/empty.tar.gz');
+        $this->assertNull($result);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \RuntimeException
+     */
+    public function testThrowsExceptionIfTheTarHasNoComposerJson()
+    {
+        Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/nojson.tar.gz');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \RuntimeException
+     */
+    public function testThrowsExceptionIfTheComposerJsonIsInASubSubfolder()
+    {
+        Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/subfolders.tar.gz');
+    }
+
+    public function testReturnsComposerJsonInTarRoot()
+    {
+        $result = Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/root.tar.gz');
+        $this->assertEquals("{\n    \"name\": \"foo/bar\"\n}\n", $result);
+    }
+
+    public function testReturnsComposerJsonInFirstFolder()
+    {
+        $result = Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/folder.tar.gz');
+        $this->assertEquals("{\n    \"name\": \"foo/bar\"\n}\n", $result);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \RuntimeException
+     */
+    public function testMultipleTopLevelDirsIsInvalid()
+    {
+        Tar::getComposerJson(__DIR__.'/Fixtures/Tar/multiple.tar.gz');
+    }
+}