diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/71903-unarchive-gid-cast.yml b/changelogs/fragments/71903-unarchive-gid-cast.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..89a99d02d13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/71903-unarchive-gid-cast.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - unarchive - ``zip`` unarchive no longer errors on RHEL/CentOS 6 and old Fedora when attempting to use a numeric gid (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/71903).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py b/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py
index f6591ed5d41..550ca3a00c4 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py
@@ -332,8 +332,8 @@ class ZipArchive(object):
                 tpw = pwd.getpwnam(self.file_args['owner'])
             except KeyError:
                 try:
-                    tpw = pwd.getpwuid(self.file_args['owner'])
-                except (TypeError, KeyError):
+                    tpw = pwd.getpwuid(int(self.file_args['owner']))
+                except (TypeError, KeyError, ValueError):
                     tpw = pwd.getpwuid(run_uid)
             fut_owner = tpw.pw_name
             fut_uid = tpw.pw_uid
@@ -351,7 +351,9 @@ class ZipArchive(object):
                 tgr = grp.getgrnam(self.file_args['group'])
             except (ValueError, KeyError):
                 try:
-                    tgr = grp.getgrgid(self.file_args['group'])
+                    # no need to check isdigit() explicitly here, if we fail to
+                    # parse, the ValueError will be caught.
+                    tgr = grp.getgrgid(int(self.file_args['group']))
                 except (KeyError, ValueError, OverflowError):
                     tgr = grp.getgrgid(run_gid)
             fut_group = tgr.gr_name
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_owner_group.yml b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_owner_group.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..95f1457e66a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_owner_group.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+- block:
+    - name: Create a group to chown to
+      group:
+        name: testgroup
+      register: testgroup
+
+    - name: Create a user to chown to
+      user:
+        name: testuser
+        groups:
+        - testgroup
+      register: testuser
+
+    - set_fact:
+        outdir: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/test-unarchive-{{ ext | replace(".", "_") }}'
+
+    - debug:
+        msg: Username test
+
+    # username
+    - name: create our unarchive destinations
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: directory
+
+    - name: unarchive a file
+      unarchive:
+        src: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/{{archive}}'
+        dest: '{{outdir}}'
+        list_files: True
+        remote_src: yes
+        owner: testuser
+
+    - name: stat an output file
+      stat:
+        path: '{{outdir}}/{{testfile}}'
+      register: stat
+
+    - name: verify that the file has the right owner
+      assert:
+        that:
+          - stat.stat.exists
+          - stat.stat.pw_name == testuser.name
+          - stat.stat.uid == testuser.uid
+
+    - name: nuke destination
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: absent
+
+    - debug:
+        msg: uid test
+
+    # uid
+    - name: create our unarchive destinations
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: directory
+
+    - name: unarchive a file
+      unarchive:
+        src: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/{{archive}}'
+        dest: '{{outdir}}'
+        list_files: True
+        remote_src: yes
+        owner: '{{ testuser.uid }}'
+
+    - name: stat an output file
+      stat:
+        path: '{{outdir}}/{{testfile}}'
+      register: stat
+
+    - name: verify that the file has the right owner
+      assert:
+        that:
+          - stat.stat.exists
+          - stat.stat.pw_name == testuser.name
+          - stat.stat.uid == testuser.uid
+
+    - name: nuke destination
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: absent
+
+    - debug:
+        msg: groupname test
+
+    # groupname
+    - name: create our unarchive destinations
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: directory
+
+    - name: unarchive a file
+      unarchive:
+        src: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/{{archive}}'
+        dest: '{{outdir}}'
+        list_files: True
+        remote_src: yes
+        group: testgroup
+
+    - name: stat an output file
+      stat:
+        path: '{{outdir}}/{{testfile}}'
+      register: stat
+
+    - name: verify that the file has the right owner
+      assert:
+        that:
+          - stat.stat.exists
+          - stat.stat.gr_name == testgroup.name
+          - stat.stat.gid == testgroup.gid
+
+    - name: nuke destination
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: absent
+
+    - debug:
+        msg: gid test
+
+    # gid
+    - name: create our unarchive destinations
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: directory
+
+    - name: unarchive a file
+      unarchive:
+        src: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/{{archive}}'
+        dest: '{{outdir}}'
+        list_files: True
+        remote_src: yes
+        group: '{{ testgroup.gid }}'
+
+    - name: stat an output file
+      stat:
+        path: '{{outdir}}/{{testfile}}'
+      register: stat
+
+    - name: verify that the file has the right owner
+      assert:
+        that:
+          - stat.stat.exists
+          - stat.stat.gr_name == testgroup.name
+          - stat.stat.gid == testgroup.gid
+
+    - name: nuke destination
+      file:
+        path: '{{outdir}}'
+        state: absent
+
+  always:
+    - name: Remove testuser
+      user:
+        name: testuser
+        state: absent
+
+    - name: Remove testgroup
+      group:
+        name: testgroup
+        state: absent
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar.yml b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar.yml
index 09105c600e8..0a020410001 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar.yml
@@ -24,3 +24,10 @@
   file:
     path: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/test-unarchive-tar'
     state: absent
+
+- name: test owner/group perms
+  include_tasks: test_owner_group.yml
+  vars:
+    ext: tar
+    archive: test-unarchive.tar
+    testfile: foo-unarchive.txt
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar_gz.yml b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar_gz.yml
index ac9e9a15499..e88f77b6a2c 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar_gz.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_tar_gz.yml
@@ -26,3 +26,10 @@
   file:
     path: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/test-unarchive-tar-gz'
     state: absent
+
+- name: test owner/group perms
+  include_tasks: test_owner_group.yml
+  vars:
+    ext: tar.gz
+    archive: test-unarchive.tar.gz
+    testfile: foo-unarchive.txt
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_zip.yml b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_zip.yml
index aae57d8ec90..cf03946fcdf 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_zip.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/unarchive/tasks/test_zip.yml
@@ -43,3 +43,15 @@
   assert:
     that:
       - "unarchive03b.changed == false"
+
+- name: nuke zip destination
+  file:
+    path: '{{remote_tmp_dir}}/test-unarchive-zip'
+    state: absent
+
+- name: test owner/group perms
+  include_tasks: test_owner_group.yml
+  vars:
+    ext: zip
+    archive: test-unarchive.zip
+    testfile: foo-unarchive.txt