diff --git a/lib/installer.js b/lib/installer.js
index 4232965a..978f91bb 100644
--- a/lib/installer.js
+++ b/lib/installer.js
@@ -291,7 +291,9 @@ function installJulia(dest, versionInfo, version, arch) {
                 }
                 else {
                     // This is the more common path. Using .tar.gz is much faster
-                    yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `tar xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${dest}`]);
+                    // don't use the Git bash provided tar. Issue #205
+                    // https://github.com/julia-actions/setup-julia/issues/205
+                    yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `& "$env:WINDIR/System32/tar" xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${dest}`]);
                 }
                 return dest;
             case 'darwin':
diff --git a/src/installer.ts b/src/installer.ts
index 1d2b68ef..62e79711 100644
--- a/src/installer.ts
+++ b/src/installer.ts
@@ -263,7 +263,9 @@ export async function installJulia(dest: string, versionInfo, version: string, a
                 }
             } else {
                 // This is the more common path. Using .tar.gz is much faster
-                await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `tar xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${dest}`])
+                // don't use the Git bash provided tar. Issue #205
+                // https://github.com/julia-actions/setup-julia/issues/205
+                await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `& "$env:WINDIR/System32/tar" xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${dest}`])
             }
             return dest
         case 'darwin':