diff --git a/ush/get_extrn_mdl_file_dir_info.sh b/ush/get_extrn_mdl_file_dir_info.sh
index 0de0a0c89f..e2588a2ebd 100755
--- a/ush/get_extrn_mdl_file_dir_info.sh
+++ b/ush/get_extrn_mdl_file_dir_info.sh
@@ -919,8 +919,13 @@ workflow to look for the external model files in a user-staged directory."
     fi
 
     arcv_fmt="tar"
-    arcvrel_dir="./gfs.${yyyymmdd}/${hh}"
-
+    
+    slash_atmos_or_null=""
+    if [ "${cdate_FV3LAM}" -ge "2021032100" ]; then
+      slash_atmos_or_null="/atmos"
+    fi
+    arcvrel_dir="./gfs.${yyyymmdd}/${hh}${slash_atmos_or_null}"
+     
     is_array arcv_fns
     if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then
       suffix=".${arcv_fmt}"