diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py
index ded3106173..05b2d2e924 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py
@@ -1462,6 +1462,9 @@ class FetchMethod(object):
                 cmd = 'tar x --no-same-owner -f %s' % file
             elif file.endswith('.tgz') or file.endswith('.tar.gz') or file.endswith('.tar.Z'):
                 cmd = 'tar xz --no-same-owner -f %s' % file
+                striplevel = urldata.parm.get('striplevel')
+                if striplevel:
+                    cmd += ' --strip-components=%s' % striplevel
             elif file.endswith('.tbz') or file.endswith('.tbz2') or file.endswith('.tar.bz2'):
                 cmd = 'bzip2 -dc %s | tar x --no-same-owner -f -' % file
             elif file.endswith('.gz') or file.endswith('.Z') or file.endswith('.z'):