diff --git a/kiss b/kiss
index d92542b..addf7ed 100755
--- a/kiss
+++ b/kiss
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ pkg_extract() {
             # Any other file-types are simply copied to '$mak_dir' which
             # allows for manual extraction.
             *://*.tar|*://*.tar.??|*://*.tar.???|*://*.tar.????|*://*.tgz)
-                tar xf "$src_dir/$1/${src##*/}" --strip-components 1 ||
+                "$tar" xf "$src_dir/$1/${src##*/}" --strip-components 1 ||
                     die "$1" "Couldn't extract ${src##*/}"
             ;;
 
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ pkg_tar() {
     read -r version release < "$(pkg_find "$1")/version"
 
     # Create a tar-ball from the contents of the built package.
-    tar zpcf "$bin_dir/$1#$version-$release.tar.gz" -C "$pkg_dir/$1" . ||
+    "$tar" zpcf "$bin_dir/$1#$version-$release.tar.gz" -C "$pkg_dir/$1" . ||
         die "$1" "Failed to create tar-ball"
 
     log "$1" "Successfully created tar-ball"
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ pkg_conflicts() {
     # Filter the tarball's manifest and select only files
     # and any files they resolve to on the filesystem
     # (/bin/ls -> /usr/bin/ls).
-    tar xf "$1" -O "./$pkg_db/$2/manifest" | while read -r file; do
+    "$tar" xf "$1" -O "./$pkg_db/$2/manifest" | while read -r file; do
         case $file in */) continue; esac
 
         printf '%s/%s\n' \
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ pkg_install() {
     # Figure out which package the tar-ball installs by checking for
     # a database entry inside the tar-ball. If no database entry exists,
     # exit here as the tar-ball is *most likely* not a KISS package.
-    pkg_name=$(tar tf "$tar_file" | "$grep" -x "\./$pkg_db/.*/version") ||
+    pkg_name=$("$tar" tf "$tar_file" | "$grep" -x "\./$pkg_db/.*/version") ||
         die "'${tar_file##*/}' is not a valid KISS package"
 
     pkg_name=${pkg_name%/*}
@@ -878,7 +878,7 @@ pkg_install() {
     mkdir -p "$tar_dir/$pkg_name"
 
     # Extract the tar-ball to catch any errors before installation begins.
-    tar pxf "$tar_file" -C "$tar_dir/$pkg_name" ||
+    "$tar" pxf "$tar_file" -C "$tar_dir/$pkg_name" ||
         die "$pkg_name" "Failed to extract tar-ball"
 
     log "$pkg_name" "Checking that all dependencies are installed"
@@ -1295,6 +1295,10 @@ main() {
     # POSIX correctness.
     grep=$(command -v ggrep) || grep='grep'
 
+    # Prefer libarchive tar if installed as it is much much faster than
+    # busybox's implementation. Very much worth it if you value performance.
+    tar=$(command -v bsdtar) || tar='tar'
+
     # Figure out which 'sudo' command to use based on the user's choice or
     # what is available on the system.
     su=${KISS_SU:-$(command -v sudo || command -v doas)} || su=su