diff --git a/.changeset/angry-planes-visit.md b/.changeset/angry-planes-visit.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c0a78f0c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/angry-planes-visit.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/backend-common': minor
+---
+
+The `ZipArchiveResponse` class now accepts an optional `stripFirstDirectory` parameter. Note that its default value is `false`, which leads to a breaking change in behaviour to previous versions of the class. If you use this class explicitly and want to retain the old behaviour, add a `true` parameter value to its constructor.
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-main.zip b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-main.zip
index beee59d3a0..ae362448fc 100644
Binary files a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-main.zip and b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-main.zip differ
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-with-extra-root-dir.zip b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-with-extra-root-dir.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..beee59d3a0
Binary files /dev/null and b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/__fixtures__/mock-with-extra-root-dir.zip differ
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.test.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.test.ts
index 659875286e..f6f9a7845a 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.test.ts
@@ -22,11 +22,15 @@ import { ZipArchiveResponse } from './ZipArchiveResponse';
 const archiveData = fs.readFileSync(
   resolvePath(__filename, '../../__fixtures__/mock-main.zip'),
 );
+const archiveDataWithExtraDir = fs.readFileSync(
+  resolvePath(__filename, '../../__fixtures__/mock-with-extra-root-dir.zip'),
+);
 
 describe('ZipArchiveResponse', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     mockFs({
       '/test-archive.zip': archiveData,
+      '/test-archive-with-extra-root-dir.zip': archiveDataWithExtraDir,
       '/tmp': mockFs.directory(),
     });
   });
@@ -58,6 +62,36 @@ describe('ZipArchiveResponse', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it('should read files and strip root dir if requested', async () => {
+    const stream = fs.createReadStream('/test-archive-with-extra-root-dir.zip');
+
+    const res = new ZipArchiveResponse(
+      stream,
+      '',
+      '/tmp',
+      'etag',
+      undefined,
+      true,
+    );
+    const files = await res.files();
+
+    expect(files).toEqual([
+      {
+        path: 'mkdocs.yml',
+        content: expect.any(Function),
+      },
+      {
+        path: 'docs/index.md',
+        content: expect.any(Function),
+      },
+    ]);
+    const contents = await Promise.all(files.map(f => f.content()));
+    expect(contents.map(c => c.toString('utf8').trim())).toEqual([
+      'site_name: Test',
+      '# Test',
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it('should read files with filter', async () => {
     const stream = fs.createReadStream('/test-archive.zip');
 
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.ts
index 5c12a383ee..fb22f24b94 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/reading/tree/ZipArchiveResponse.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export class ZipArchiveResponse implements ReadTreeResponse {
     private readonly workDir: string,
     public readonly etag: string,
     private readonly filter?: (path: string, info: { size: number }) => boolean,
+    private readonly stripFirstDirectory?: boolean,
   ) {
     if (subPath) {
       if (!subPath.endsWith('/')) {
@@ -67,7 +68,9 @@ export class ZipArchiveResponse implements ReadTreeResponse {
   }
 
   private shouldBeIncluded(entry: Entry): boolean {
-    const strippedPath = stripFirstDirectoryFromPath(entry.path);
+    const strippedPath = this.stripFirstDirectory
+      ? stripFirstDirectoryFromPath(entry.path)
+      : entry.path;
 
     if (this.subPath) {
       if (!strippedPath.startsWith(this.subPath)) {
@@ -99,7 +102,11 @@ export class ZipArchiveResponse implements ReadTreeResponse {
 
         if (this.shouldBeIncluded(entry)) {
           files.push({
-            path: this.getInnerPath(stripFirstDirectoryFromPath(entry.path)),
+            path: this.getInnerPath(
+              this.stripFirstDirectory
+                ? stripFirstDirectoryFromPath(entry.path)
+                : entry.path,
+            ),
             content: () => entry.buffer(),
           });
         } else {
@@ -148,7 +155,9 @@ export class ZipArchiveResponse implements ReadTreeResponse {
         // as a zip can have files with directories without directory entries
         if (entry.type === 'File' && this.shouldBeIncluded(entry)) {
           const entryPath = this.getInnerPath(
-            stripFirstDirectoryFromPath(entry.path),
+            this.stripFirstDirectory
+              ? stripFirstDirectoryFromPath(entry.path)
+              : entry.path,
           );
           const dirname = platformPath.dirname(entryPath);
           if (dirname) {