diff --git a/meta/conf/distro/include/no-gplv3.inc b/meta/conf/distro/include/no-gplv3.inc
index b3eb936d94..705e05319a 100644
--- a/meta/conf/distro/include/no-gplv3.inc
+++ b/meta/conf/distro/include/no-gplv3.inc
@@ -28,3 +28,5 @@ CORE_IMAGE_BASE_INSTALL:remove:pn-core-image-weston = "matchbox-terminal"
 # Some python-tests use bash outside of ptest
 RDEPENDS:${PN}-tests:remove:class-target:pn-python3 = "${MLPREFIX}bash"
 INSANE_SKIP:${PN}-tests:pn-python3 = "file-rdeps"
+
+MACHINE_ESSENTIAL_EXTRA_RDEPENDS:remove = "tar"
diff --git a/meta/conf/machine/include/qemu.inc b/meta/conf/machine/include/qemu.inc
index bb7aec7675..d7392d4762 100644
--- a/meta/conf/machine/include/qemu.inc
+++ b/meta/conf/machine/include/qemu.inc
@@ -28,3 +28,6 @@ KERNEL_FEATURES:append:pn-linux-yocto = " features/nfsd/nfsd-enable.scc"
 KERNEL_FEATURES:append:pn-linux-yocto-rt = " features/nfsd/nfsd-enable.scc"
 
 IMAGE_CLASSES += "qemuboot"
+
+# Use gnu tar so we can handle sparse files in testimage debug archives
+MACHINE_ESSENTIAL_EXTRA_RDEPENDS += "tar"
diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/incompatible_lic.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/incompatible_lic.py
index be5484bca4..93884f5731 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/incompatible_lic.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/incompatible_lic.py
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ class IncompatibleLicensePerImageTests(OESelftestTestCase):
         return """
 IMAGE_INSTALL:append = " bash"
 INCOMPATIBLE_LICENSE:pn-core-image-minimal = "GPL-3.0* LGPL-3.0*"
+MACHINE_ESSENTIAL_EXTRA_RDEPENDS:remove = "tar"
 """
 
     def test_bash_default(self):
@@ -136,6 +137,8 @@ class NoGPL3InImagesTests(OESelftestTestCase):
     def test_core_image_minimal(self):
         self.write_config("""
 INCOMPATIBLE_LICENSE:pn-core-image-minimal = "GPL-3.0* LGPL-3.0*"
+
+require conf/distro/include/no-gplv3.inc
 """)
         bitbake('core-image-minimal')
 
diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/postactions.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/postactions.py
index 8f787838b9..c69481db6c 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/postactions.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/postactions.py
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ def list_and_fetch_failed_tests_artifacts(d, tc, artifacts_list, outputdir):
         bb.warn("Could not load artifacts list, skip artifacts retrieval")
         return
     try:
-        cmd = "tar zcf - " + " ".join(artifacts_list)
+        # We need gnu tar for sparse files, not busybox
+        cmd = "tar --sparse -zcf - " + " ".join(artifacts_list)
         (status, output) = tc.target.run(cmd, raw = True)
         if status != 0 or not output:
             raise Exception("Error while fetching compressed artifacts")