diff --git a/.changeset/gold-avocados-thank.md b/.changeset/gold-avocados-thank.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bd97499629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/gold-avocados-thank.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/backend-common': patch
+---
+
+Download archives as compressed tar files for Gitlab to fix the readtree bug in TODO Plugin.
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts
index a76b898aaf..5ed151c5c2 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.test.ts
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
 
   describe('readTree', () => {
     const archiveBuffer = fs.readFileSync(
-      path.resolve('src', 'reading', '__fixtures__', 'gitlab-archive.zip'),
+      path.resolve('src', 'reading', '__fixtures__', 'gitlab-archive.tar.gz'),
     );
 
     const projectGitlabApiResponse = {
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
       worker.use(
         rest.get(
-          'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/backstage%2Fmock/repository/archive.zip?sha=main',
+          'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/backstage%2Fmock/repository/archive?sha=main',
           (_, res, ctx) =>
             res(
               ctx.status(200),
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
           },
         ),
         rest.get(
-          'https://gitlab.mycompany.com/api/v4/projects/backstage%2Fmock/repository/archive.zip?sha=main',
+          'https://gitlab.mycompany.com/api/v4/projects/backstage%2Fmock/repository/archive?sha=main',
           (_, res, ctx) =>
             res(
               ctx.status(200),
@@ -306,8 +306,8 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
       const files = await response.files();
       expect(files.length).toBe(2);
 
-      const mkDocsFile = await files[0].content();
-      const indexMarkdownFile = await files[1].content();
+      const indexMarkdownFile = await files[0].content();
+      const mkDocsFile = await files[1].content();
 
       expect(mkDocsFile.toString()).toBe('site_name: Test\n');
       expect(indexMarkdownFile.toString()).toBe('# Test\n');
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
     it('returns the wanted files from hosted gitlab', async () => {
       worker.use(
         rest.get(
-          'https://gitlab.mycompany.com/backstage/mock/-/archive/main.zip',
+          'https://gitlab.mycompany.com/backstage/mock/-/archive/main.tar.gz',
           (_, res, ctx) =>
             res(
               ctx.status(200),
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
 
   describe('search', () => {
     const archiveBuffer = fs.readFileSync(
-      path.resolve('src', 'reading', '__fixtures__', 'gitlab-archive.zip'),
+      path.resolve('src', 'reading', '__fixtures__', 'gitlab-archive.tar.gz'),
     );
 
     const projectGitlabApiResponse = {
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ describe('GitlabUrlReader', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
       worker.use(
         rest.get(
-          'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/backstage%2Fmock/repository/archive.zip?sha=main',
+          'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/backstage%2Fmock/repository/archive?sha=main',
           (_, res, ctx) =>
             res(
               ctx.status(200),
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts
index 13764a5312..aa215aee47 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/GitlabUrlReader.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ export class GitlabUrlReader implements UrlReader {
     const archiveGitLabResponse = await fetch(
       `${this.integration.config.apiBaseUrl}/projects/${encodeURIComponent(
         full_name,
-      )}/repository/archive.zip?sha=${branch}`,
+      )}/repository/archive?sha=${branch}`,
       getGitLabRequestOptions(this.integration.config),
     );
     if (!archiveGitLabResponse.ok) {
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ export class GitlabUrlReader implements UrlReader {
       throw new Error(message);
     }
 
-    return await this.deps.treeResponseFactory.fromZipArchive({
+    return await this.deps.treeResponseFactory.fromTarArchive({
       stream: (archiveGitLabResponse.body as unknown) as Readable,
       subpath: filepath,
       etag: commitSha,
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/gitlab-archive.tar.gz b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/gitlab-archive.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c078e07e7e
Binary files /dev/null and b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/gitlab-archive.tar.gz differ