diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py
index b0d5508d06..0b39ea6aaa 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/__init__.py
@@ -1459,6 +1459,8 @@ class FetchMethod(object):
 
         if unpack:
             tar_cmd = 'tar --extract --no-same-owner'
+            if 'striplevel' in urldata.parm:
+                tar_cmd += ' --strip-components=%s' %  urldata.parm['striplevel']
             if file.endswith('.tar'):
                 cmd = '%s -f %s' % (tar_cmd, file)
             elif file.endswith('.tgz') or file.endswith('.tar.gz') or file.endswith('.tar.Z'):