diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_unzip.ps1 b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_unzip.ps1
index c8d9dd88088..abda148a1c7 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_unzip.ps1
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_unzip.ps1
@@ -46,6 +46,47 @@ $result = @{
     src = $src -replace '\$',''
 }
 
+Function Extract-Zip($src, $dest) {
+    $archive = [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::Open($src, [System.IO.Compression.ZipArchiveMode]::Read, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)
+    foreach ($entry in $archive.Entries) {
+        $archive_name = $entry.FullName
+
+        $entry_target_path = [System.IO.Path]::Combine($dest, $archive_name)
+        $entry_dir = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($entry_target_path)
+
+        if (-not (Test-Path -Path $entry_dir)) {
+            New-Item -Path $entry_dir -ItemType Directory -WhatIf:$check_mode | Out-Null
+            $result.changed = $true
+        }
+
+        if ((-not ($entry_target_path.EndsWith("\") -or $entry_target_path.EndsWith("/"))) -and (-not $check_mode)) {
+            [System.IO.Compression.ZipFileExtensions]::ExtractToFile($entry, $entry_target_path, $true)
+        }
+        $result.changed = $true
+    }
+    $archive.Dispose()
+}
+
+Function Extract-ZipLegacy($src, $dest) {
+    # [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile] was only added in .net 4.5, this is used
+    # when .net is older than that.
+    $shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application
+    $zip = $shell.NameSpace([IO.Path]::GetFullPath($src))
+    $dest_path = $shell.NameSpace([IO.Path]::GetFullPath($dest))
+
+    $shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application
+
+    if (-not $check_mode) {
+        # https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb787866.aspx
+        # From Folder.CopyHere documentation, 1044 means:
+        #  - 1024: do not display a user interface if an error occurs
+        #  -   16: respond with "yes to all" for any dialog box that is displayed
+        #  -    4: do not display a progress dialog box
+        $dest_path.CopyHere($zip.Items(), 1044)
+    }
+    $result.changed = $true
+}
+
 If ($creates -and (Test-Path -LiteralPath $creates)) {
     $result.skipped = $true
     $result.msg = "The file or directory '$creates' already exists."
@@ -67,22 +108,29 @@ If (-Not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $dest -PathType Container)){
 }
 
 If ($ext -eq ".zip" -And $recurse -eq $false) {
-    Try {
-        $shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application
-        $zipPkg = $shell.NameSpace([IO.Path]::GetFullPath($src))
-        $destPath = $shell.NameSpace([IO.Path]::GetFullPath($dest))
+    # TODO: PS v5 supports zip extraction, use that if available
+    $use_legacy = $false
+    try {
+        # determines if .net 4.5 is available, if this fails we need to fall
+        # back to the legacy COM Shell.Application to extract the zip
+        Add-Type -AssemblyName System.IO.Compression.FileSystem | Out-Null
+        Add-Type -AssemblyName System.IO.Compression | Out-Null
+    } catch {
+        $use_legacy = $true
+    }
 
-        if (-not $check_mode) {
-            # https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb787866.aspx
-            # From Folder.CopyHere documentation, 1044 means:
-            #  - 1024: do not display a user interface if an error occurs
-            #  -   16: respond with "yes to all" for any dialog box that is displayed
-            #  -    4: do not display a progress dialog box
-            $destPath.CopyHere($zipPkg.Items(), 1044)
+    if ($use_legacy) {
+        try {
+            Extract-ZipLegacy -src $src -dest $dest
+        } catch {
+            Fail-Json -obj $result -message "Error unzipping '$src' to '$dest'!. Method: COM Shell.Application, Exception: $($_.Exception.Message)"
+        }
+    } else {
+        try {
+            Extract-Zip -src $src -dest $dest
+        } catch {
+            Fail-Json -obj $result -message "Error unzipping '$src' to '$dest'!. Method: System.IO.Compression.ZipFile, Exception: $($_.Exception.Message)"
         }
-        $result.changed = $true
-    } Catch {
-        Fail-Json -obj $result -message "Error unzipping '$src' to $dest! Msg: $($_.Exception.Message)"
     }
 } Else {
     # Check if PSCX is installed
@@ -125,7 +173,11 @@ If ($ext -eq ".zip" -And $recurse -eq $false) {
 }
 
 If ($delete_archive){
-    Remove-Item $src -Recurse -Force -WhatIf:$check_mode
+    try {
+        Remove-Item $src -Recurse -Force -WhatIf:$check_mode
+    } catch {
+        Fail-Json -obj $result -message "failed to delete archive at '$src': $($_.Exception.Message)"
+    }
     $result.removed = $true
 }
 
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/win_unzip/tasks/tests.yml b/test/integration/targets/win_unzip/tasks/tests.yml
index c049e9b64c7..dd7861f3cdf 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/win_unzip/tasks/tests.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/win_unzip/tasks/tests.yml
@@ -4,12 +4,26 @@
     dest: C:\Program Files\sysinternals
   register: unzip_archive
 
-- name: Test unzip_archive
+- name: get stat of an extracted file
+  win_stat:
+    path: C:\Program Files\sysinternals\procexp.exe
+  register: unzip_archive_file
+
+- name: Test unzip_archive (check-mode)
   assert:
     that:
     - unzip_archive|changed == true
     - unzip_archive.removed == false
+    - unzip_archive_file.stat.exists == false
+  when: in_check_mode
 
+- name: Test unzip_archive (normal mode)
+  assert:
+    that:
+    - unzip_archive|changed == true
+    - unzip_archive.removed == false
+    - unzip_archive_file.stat.exists == true
+  when: not in_check_mode
 
 - name: Unarchive sysinternals archive again, use creates
   win_unzip: