diff --git a/src/common/utils/tar.ts b/src/common/utils/tar.ts
index f9876e2b27..659210e682 100644
--- a/src/common/utils/tar.ts
+++ b/src/common/utils/tar.ts
@@ -3,37 +3,46 @@
 import tar, { ExtractOptions, FileStat } from "tar";
 import path from "path";
 
-export interface ReadFileFromTarOpts {
+export interface ReadFileFromTarOpts<R> {
   tarPath: string;
   filePath: string;
-  parseJson?: boolean;
+  parse: (buf: Buffer) => R;
 }
 
-export function readFileFromTar<R = Buffer>({ tarPath, filePath, parseJson }: ReadFileFromTarOpts): Promise<R> {
-  return new Promise(async (resolve, reject) => {
+/**
+ * This function is useful for when you want the raw buffer from `readFileFromTar`
+ * @param buf the input buffer from reading a file from a tar ball
+ */
+export function passBuffer(buf: Buffer): Buffer {
+  return buf;
+}
+
+export function readFileFromTar<R>({ tarPath, filePath, parse }: ReadFileFromTarOpts<R>): Promise<R> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const fileChunks: Buffer[] = [];
 
-    await tar.list({
+    tar.list({
       file: tarPath,
       filter: entryPath => path.normalize(entryPath) === filePath,
       onentry(entry: FileStat) {
         entry.on("data", chunk => {
-          fileChunks.push(chunk);
+          if (chunk instanceof Buffer) {
+            fileChunks.push(chunk);
+          } else if (typeof chunk === "string") {
+            fileChunks.push(Buffer.from(chunk));
+          }
         });
         entry.once("error", err => {
           reject(new Error(`reading file has failed ${entry.path}: ${err}`));
         });
         entry.once("end", () => {
-          const data = Buffer.concat(fileChunks);
-          const result = parseJson ? JSON.parse(data.toString("utf8")) : data;
-
-          resolve(result);
+          resolve(parse(Buffer.concat(fileChunks)));
         });
       },
     });
 
     if (!fileChunks.length) {
-      reject(new Error("Not found"));
+      reject(new Error(`File not found: ${filePath}`));
     }
   });
 }
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/+extensions/extensions.tsx b/src/renderer/components/+extensions/extensions.tsx
index f30168145a..67f0837034 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/+extensions/extensions.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/+extensions/extensions.tsx
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ interface InstallRequestValidated extends InstallRequestPreloaded {
   tempFile: string; // temp system path to packed extension for unpacking
 }
 
+function parseLensExtensionManifest(buf: Buffer): LensExtensionManifest {
+  const raw = JSON.parse(buf.toString("utf8"));
+
+  // todo: do verification
+  return raw;
+}
+
 @observer
 export class Extensions extends React.Component {
   private static supportedFormats = ["tar", "tgz"];
@@ -241,10 +248,10 @@ export class Extensions extends React.Component {
       throw new Error(`invalid extension bundle, ${manifestFilename} not found`);
     }
 
-    const manifest = await readFileFromTar<LensExtensionManifest>({
+    const manifest = await readFileFromTar({
       tarPath: filePath,
       filePath: manifestLocation,
-      parseJson: true,
+      parse: parseLensExtensionManifest,
     });
 
     if (!manifest.lens && !manifest.renderer) {
@@ -298,7 +305,7 @@ export class Extensions extends React.Component {
   }
 
   async requestInstall(init: InstallRequest | InstallRequest[]) {
-    const requests = Array.isArray(init) ? init : [init];
+    const requests = [init].flat();
     const preloadedRequests = await this.preloadExtensions(requests);
     const validatedRequests = await this.createTempFilesAndValidate(preloadedRequests);