diff --git a/files/unarchive b/files/unarchive
index ab04e57475c..29e9ddb9e48 100644
--- a/files/unarchive
+++ b/files/unarchive
@@ -81,17 +81,20 @@ class ZipFile(object):
         self.src = src
         self.dest = dest
         self.module = module
+        self.cmd_path = self.module.get_bin_path('unzip')
 
     def is_unarchived(self):
         return dict(unarchived=False)
 
     def unarchive(self):
-        cmd = 'unzip -o "%s" -d "%s"' % (self.src, self.dest)
+        cmd = '%s -o "%s" -d "%s"' % (self.cmd_path, self.src, self.dest)
         rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(cmd)
         return dict(cmd=cmd, rc=rc, out=out, err=err)
 
     def can_handle_archive(self):
-        cmd = 'unzip -l "%s"' % self.src
+        if not self.cmd_path:
+            return False
+        cmd = '%s -l "%s"' % (self.cmd_path, self.src)
         rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(cmd)
         if rc == 0:
             return True
@@ -105,23 +108,26 @@ class TgzFile(object):
         self.src = src
         self.dest = dest
         self.module = module
+        self.cmd_path = self.module.get_bin_path('tar')
         self.zipflag = 'z'
 
     def is_unarchived(self):
         dirof = os.path.dirname(self.dest)
         destbase = os.path.basename(self.dest)
-        cmd = 'tar -v -C "%s" --diff -%sf "%s"' % (self.dest, self.zipflag, self.src)
+        cmd = '%s -v -C "%s" --diff -%sf "%s"' % (self.cmd_path, self.dest, self.zipflag, self.src)
         rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(cmd)
         unarchived = (rc == 0)
         return dict(unarchived=unarchived, rc=rc, out=out, err=err, cmd=cmd)
 
     def unarchive(self):
-        cmd = 'tar -C "%s" -x%sf "%s"' % (self.dest, self.zipflag, self.src)
+        cmd = '%s -C "%s" -x%sf "%s"' % (self.cmd_path, self.dest, self.zipflag, self.src)
         rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(cmd)
         return dict(cmd=cmd, rc=rc, out=out, err=err)
 
     def can_handle_archive(self):
-        cmd = 'tar -t%sf "%s"' % (self.zipflag, self.src)
+        if not self.cmd_path:
+            return False
+        cmd = '%s -t%sf "%s"' % (self.cmd_path, self.zipflag, self.src)
         rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(cmd)
         if rc == 0:
             if len(out.splitlines(True)) > 0:
@@ -135,6 +141,7 @@ class TarFile(TgzFile):
         self.src = src
         self.dest = dest
         self.module = module
+        self.cmd_path = self.module.get_bin_path('tar')
         self.zipflag = ''
 
 
@@ -144,6 +151,7 @@ class TarBzip(TgzFile):
         self.src = src
         self.dest = dest
         self.module = module
+        self.cmd_path = self.module.get_bin_path('tar')
         self.zipflag = 'j'
 
 
@@ -153,6 +161,7 @@ class TarXz(TgzFile):
         self.src = src
         self.dest = dest
         self.module = module
+        self.cmd_path = self.module.get_bin_path('tar')
         self.zipflag = 'J'
 
 
@@ -163,7 +172,7 @@ def pick_handler(src, dest, module):
         obj = handler(src, dest, module)
         if obj.can_handle_archive():
             return obj
-    raise RuntimeError('Failed to find handler to unarchive "%s"' % src)
+    module.fail_json(msg='Failed to find handler to unarchive. Make sure the required command to extract the file is installed.')
 
 
 def main():