diff --git a/runtime/src/hardened_unpack.rs b/runtime/src/hardened_unpack.rs
index 69c21e59e5..ecabf20ad0 100644
--- a/runtime/src/hardened_unpack.rs
+++ b/runtime/src/hardened_unpack.rs
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ fn unpack_genesis<A: Read, P: AsRef<Path>>(
 fn is_valid_genesis_archive_entry(parts: &[&str], kind: tar::EntryType) -> bool {
     trace!("validating: {:?} {:?}", parts, kind);
     match (parts, kind) {
+        (["genesis.bin"], GNUSparse) => true,
         (["genesis.bin"], Regular) => true,
         (["rocksdb"], Directory) => true,
         (["rocksdb", ..], GNUSparse) => true,