diff --git a/build/jam/ImageRules b/build/jam/ImageRules
index 9e93bd28ee..8e27d5606c 100644
--- a/build/jam/ImageRules
+++ b/build/jam/ImageRules
@@ -1074,7 +1074,7 @@ rule BuildNetBootArchive archive : scripts
 {
 	# BuildNetBootArchive <archive> : <scripts>  ;
 
-	local mainScript = build_tgz_archive ;
+	local mainScript = build_archive ;
 	SEARCH on $(mainScript) = [ FDirName $(HAIKU_TOP) build scripts ] ;
 
 	Depends $(archive) : $(mainScript) $(scripts) ;
@@ -1139,7 +1139,7 @@ rule BuildAlternativeGCCArchive archive : scripts
 {
 	# BuildAlternativeGCCArchive <archive> : <scripts>  ;
 
-	local mainScript = build_zip_archive ;
+	local mainScript = build_archive ;
 	SEARCH on $(mainScript) = [ FDirName $(HAIKU_TOP) build scripts ] ;
 
 	Depends $(archive) : $(mainScript) $(scripts) ;
@@ -1317,7 +1317,7 @@ rule BuildFloppyBootArchive archive : scripts
 {
 	# BuildHFloppyBootArchive <archive> : <scripts>  ;
 
-	local mainScript = build_tgz_archive ;
+	local mainScript = build_archive ;
 	SEARCH on $(mainScript) = [ FDirName $(HAIKU_TOP) build scripts ] ;
 
 	Depends $(archive) : $(mainScript) $(scripts) ;
diff --git a/build/scripts/build_zip_archive b/build/scripts/build_archive
similarity index 65%
rename from build/scripts/build_zip_archive
rename to build/scripts/build_archive
index e96f27eb7c..6c13f7e2ed 100755
--- a/build/scripts/build_zip_archive
+++ b/build/scripts/build_archive
@@ -12,10 +12,11 @@ shift
 # The second argument is the shell script that initializes the variables:
 # tmpDir
 # addBuildCompatibilityLibDir
-#
+# 
 # copyattr
-# rmAttrs
+# rmAttrs 
 # zip
+# NOTE: rmAttrs and zip are only passed in when building zip
 #
 . $1
 shift
@@ -35,8 +36,20 @@ ln=ln
 mkdir=mkdir
 rm=rm
 
-# clear output dir
-$rmAttrs -rf $outputDir
+
+cleanDir()
+{
+	# clearDir <directory>
+	if [ $rmAttrs ] ; then
+		$rmAttrs -rf $1
+	else
+		$rm -rf $1
+	fi
+}
+
+
+# clean output dir
+cleanDir $outputDir
 $mkdir -p $outputDir
 
 # populate output dir
@@ -56,8 +69,20 @@ cd $cwd
 echo "Building archive $archive ..."
 $rm -f $archive
 cd $outputDir
-$zip -ryq $archive .
-cd $cwd
+case "$archive" in
+	*.zip)
+		$zip -ryq $archive .
+		;;
+	*.tgz)
+		contents=$(ls)
+		tar --format ustar -czf $archive $contents
+		;;
+	*)
+		echo "Unhandled archive format in build_archive"
+		exit 1
+		;;
+esac
+cd ..
 
 # clean up
-$rmAttrs -rf $outputDir
+cleanDir $outputDir
diff --git a/build/scripts/build_tgz_archive b/build/scripts/build_tgz_archive
deleted file mode 100755
index aa36e580d7..0000000000
--- a/build/scripts/build_tgz_archive
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-set -o errexit
-
-if [ $# -lt 2 ]; then
-	echo "Usage: $0 <archive> <scripts> ..."
-fi
-
-# get the archive name
-archive=$1
-shift
-
-# The second argument is the shell script that initializes the variables:
-# tmpDir
-# addBuildCompatibilityLibDir
-# 
-# copyattr
-#
-. $1
-shift
-
-outputDir=$tmpDir/archive
-
-# this adds the build library dir to LD_LIBRARY_PATH
-eval "$addBuildCompatibilityLibDir"
-
-# map the shell commands
-sPrefix=
-tPrefix="$outputDir/"
-cd=cd
-scd=:
-cp="$copyattr -d"
-ln=ln
-mkdir=mkdir
-rm=rm
-
-# clear output dir
-$rm -rf $outputDir
-$mkdir -p $outputDir
-
-# populate output dir
-echo "Preparing contents of archive $archive ..."
-while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
-	. $1
-	shift
-done
-
-# build the archive
-echo "Building archive $archive ..."
-$rm -f $archive
-contents=$(cd $outputDir; ls)
-tar -C $outputDir --format ustar -czf $archive $contents
-
-# clean up
-$rm -rf $outputDir