diff --git a/commands/unziptar b/commands/unziptar
index b2a901058..9792ca7a5 100755
--- a/commands/unziptar
+++ b/commands/unziptar
@@ -158,15 +158,30 @@ function unziptar() (
 			cp -Rfv "$@"
 		}
 	elif test "$format" = 'zip'; then
-		setup-util-unziptar --quiet
-		unzip -u "$archive"
+		# be cautious with unziptar dependency, as is challenging on fresh macos
+		if command-missing unzip; then
+			setup-util-unziptar --quiet
+		fi
+		unzip -u "$archive" 2>/dev/null || {
+			setup-util-unziptar --quiet
+			unzip -u "$archive" || {
+				echo-error "Failed to extract the archive:" $'\n' "$(file "$archive")"
+				return 1
+			}
+		}
 	elif test "$format" = 'tar'; then
-		setup-util-unziptar --quiet
+		# be cautious with unziptar dependency, as is challenging on fresh macos
+		if command-missing tar; then
+			setup-util-unziptar --quiet
+		fi
 		# don't use -z flag, as that enforces gzip (tar.xy) which is not valid for (.tar.xz)
 		# without -z, auto-detection is used
-		tar -xvf "$archive" || {
-			echo-error "Failed to extract the archive:" $'\n' "$(file "$archive")"
-			return 1
+		tar -xvf "$archive" 2>/dev/null || {
+			setup-util-unziptar --quiet
+			tar -xvf "$archive" || {
+				echo-error "Failed to extract the archive:" $'\n' "$(file "$archive")"
+				return 1
+			}
 		}
 	else
 		help "Unrecognised format: $format"