diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/extras/files/archive.py b/lib/ansible/modules/extras/files/archive.py
index 2b927e39c19..3b11d86b339 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/extras/files/archive.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/extras/files/archive.py
@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ def main():
                     elif format == 'tar':
                         arcfile = tarfile.open(dest, 'w')
 
+                    match_root = re.compile('^%s' % re.escape(arcroot))
                     for path in archive_paths:
                         if os.path.isdir(path):
                             # Recurse into directories
@@ -254,7 +255,7 @@ def main():
 
                                 for dirname in dirnames:
                                     fullpath = dirpath + dirname
-                                    arcname = fullpath[len(arcroot):]
+                                    arcname = match_root.sub('', fullpath)
 
                                     try:
                                         if format == 'zip':
@@ -268,7 +269,7 @@ def main():
 
                                 for filename in filenames:
                                     fullpath = dirpath + filename
-                                    arcname = fullpath[len(arcroot):]
+                                    arcname = match_root.sub('', fullpath)
 
                                     if not filecmp.cmp(fullpath, dest):
                                         try:
@@ -283,9 +284,9 @@ def main():
                                             errors.append('Adding %s: %s' % (path, str(e)))
                         else:
                             if format == 'zip':
-                                arcfile.write(path, path[len(arcroot):])
+                                arcfile.write(path, match_root.sub('', path))
                             else:
-                                arcfile.add(path, path[len(arcroot):], recursive=False)
+                                arcfile.add(path, match_root.sub('', path), recursive=False)
 
                             successes.append(path)