diff --git a/.github/workflows/verify-split-files.yml b/.github/workflows/verify-split-files.yml
index b2280a1..361c586 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/verify-split-files.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/verify-split-files.yml
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ on:
       - "tests/db-helper-context.sh"
       - "tests/cs-clear.sh"
       - "tests/forge-appversion-scope.sh"
+      - "tests/forge-singlefile-compressed.sh"
       - "tests/motd-os-version.sh"
       - "tests/gpg-key-reason.sh"
       - "tests/forge-branch-clean-install.sh"
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@ on:
       - "tests/db-helper-context.sh"
       - "tests/cs-clear.sh"
       - "tests/forge-appversion-scope.sh"
+      - "tests/forge-singlefile-compressed.sh"
       - "tests/motd-os-version.sh"
       - "tests/gpg-key-reason.sh"
       - "tests/forge-branch-clean-install.sh"
@@ -299,6 +301,8 @@ jobs:
         run: bash tests/cs-clear.sh
       - name: App version pin and .deb stamp tests
         run: bash tests/forge-appversion-scope.sh
+      - name: Compressed single binary tests
+        run: bash tests/forge-singlefile-compressed.sh
       - name: GPG key failure reason tests
         run: bash tests/gpg-key-reason.sh
       - name: Clean install from a git branch tests
diff --git a/lib/forge.func b/lib/forge.func
index f884325..6f6a67e 100644
--- a/lib/forge.func
+++ b/lib/forge.func
@@ -2093,7 +2093,8 @@ fetch_and_deploy_codeberg_release() {
 #       - source: Alias for tarball (same behavior)
 #       - binary: .deb package install (arch-dependent)
 #       - prebuild: Prebuilt .tar.gz archive (e.g. Go binaries)
-#       - singlefile: Standalone binary (no archive, direct chmod +x install)
+#       - singlefile: Standalone binary (no archive, direct chmod +x install;
+#                     a .gz/.bz2/.xz/.zst single binary is unpacked first)
 #   - Handles download, extraction/installation and version tracking in ~/.<app>
 #
 # Parameters:
@@ -2507,12 +2508,33 @@ fetch_and_deploy_release() {
       _deploy_unpacked_archive "$tmpdir/$filename" "$target" "$unpack_tmp" || return
     else
       mkdir -p "$target"
-      local target_file="$app"
+      local target_file="$app" unpack="" unpack_pkg=""
       [[ "${USE_ORIGINAL_FILENAME:-false}" == "true" ]] && target_file="$filename"
-      curl_download "$target/$target_file" "$asset_url" || {
-        msg_error "Download failed: $asset_url"
-        return 250
-      }
+      # A compressed single binary lands unpacked; tarballs stay as they are.
+      case "$filename" in
+      *.tar.* | *.tgz | *.txz) ;;
+      *.gz) unpack=gzip unpack_pkg=gzip ;;
+      *.bz2) unpack=bzip2 unpack_pkg=bzip2 ;;
+      *.xz) unpack=xz unpack_pkg=xz-utils ;;
+      *.zst) unpack=zstd unpack_pkg=zstd ;;
+      esac
+      if [[ -n "$unpack" ]]; then
+        [[ "$target_file" == "$filename" ]] && target_file="${filename%.*}"
+        ensure_dependencies "$unpack_pkg" || return 100
+        curl_download "$tmpdir/$filename" "$asset_url" || {
+          msg_error "Download failed: $asset_url"
+          return 250
+        }
+        "$unpack" -dc "$tmpdir/$filename" >"$target/$target_file" || {
+          msg_error "Could not unpack $filename"
+          return 251
+        }
+      else
+        curl_download "$target/$target_file" "$asset_url" || {
+          msg_error "Download failed: $asset_url"
+          return 250
+        }
+      fi
       if [[ "$target_file" != *.jar && -f "$target/$target_file" ]]; then
         chmod +x "$target/$target_file"
       fi
diff --git a/tests/forge-singlefile-compressed.sh b/tests/forge-singlefile-compressed.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fc6929
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/forge-singlefile-compressed.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -uo pipefail
+
+CORE_DIR="$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+eval "$(awk '/^(fetch_and_deploy_release|_forge_workdir|_forge_is_script_app|_forge_descriptor|_forge_strip_v|_forge_previous_version)[(][)] [{]/,/^}/' "$CORE_DIR/lib/forge.func")"
+
+TEST_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf -- "$TEST_DIR"' EXIT
+export HOME="$TEST_DIR/home"
+mkdir -p "$HOME"
+LOG="$TEST_DIR/log"
+passed=0 failed=0
+
+check() {
+  if [[ "$3" == "$2" ]]; then
+    echo "PASS $1"
+    passed=$((passed + 1))
+  else
+    echo "FAIL $1: expected <$2>, got <$3>" >&2
+    sed 's/^/    /' "$LOG" >&2
+    failed=$((failed + 1))
+  fi
+}
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034  # read by the eval'd helpers
+STD=""
+jq() { command jq "$@" | tr -d '\r'; }
+msg_info() { :; }
+msg_ok() { echo "ok: $*" >>"$LOG"; }
+msg_warn() { :; }
+msg_error() { echo "error: $*" >>"$LOG"; }
+ensure_dependencies() { echo "deps $*" >>"$LOG"; }
+_forge_release_json() { printf '{"tag_name":"v1.0.0"}' >"$5"; }
+_forge_asset_urls() { echo "https://example.invalid/$ASSET"; }
+curl_download() {
+  local out="$1"
+  printf '#!/bin/sh\necho program\n' >"$TEST_DIR/plain"
+  case "$ASSET" in
+  *.tar.gz) tar -czf "$out" -C "$TEST_DIR" plain ;;
+  *.gz) gzip -c "$TEST_DIR/plain" >"$out" ;;
+  *.bz2) bzip2 -c "$TEST_DIR/plain" >"$out" ;;
+  *.xz) xz -c "$TEST_DIR/plain" >"$out" ;;
+  *) cp "$TEST_DIR/plain" "$out" ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+deploy() {
+  : >"$LOG"
+  rm -rf "$TEST_DIR/opt" "$HOME"/.[!.]*
+  fetch_and_deploy_release github "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+runs() { [[ -x "$1" && "$("$1" 2>/dev/null)" == "program" ]] && echo runs || echo "does not run"; }
+
+for pair in gz:gzip bz2:bzip2 xz:xz; do
+  ext="${pair%%:*}"
+  command -v "${pair##*:}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
+  ASSET="app-v1.0.0-linux-amd64.$ext"
+  deploy app owner/app singlefile latest "$TEST_DIR/opt/app" "app-v*-linux-amd64.$ext"
+  check ".$ext: the program is unpacked and executable" "runs" "$(runs "$TEST_DIR/opt/app/app")"
+  check ".$ext: no archive is left in the target" "1" "$(find "$TEST_DIR/opt/app" -type f | wc -l | tr -d ' ')"
+done
+
+if command -v bzip2 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  ASSET="restic_0.18.0_linux_amd64.bz2"
+  USE_ORIGINAL_FILENAME=true deploy restic restic/restic singlefile latest "$TEST_DIR/opt/bin" "restic_*_linux_amd64.bz2"
+  check "original filename drops the compression suffix" "runs" "$(runs "$TEST_DIR/opt/bin/restic_0.18.0_linux_amd64")"
+fi
+
+ASSET="zulip-server-12.4.tar.gz"
+USE_ORIGINAL_FILENAME=true deploy zulip zulip/zulip singlefile latest "$TEST_DIR/opt/zulip" "zulip-server-*.tar.gz"
+check "a tarball is kept as downloaded" "yes" "$(tar -tzf "$TEST_DIR/opt/zulip/zulip-server-12.4.tar.gz" >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo yes || echo no)"
+
+ASSET="app-linux-amd64"
+deploy app owner/app singlefile latest "$TEST_DIR/opt/app" "app-linux-amd64"
+check "a plain binary is unchanged" "runs" "$(runs "$TEST_DIR/opt/app/app")"
+check "and needs no unpacker" "0" "$(grep -c '^deps' "$LOG")"
+
+echo "${passed} passed, ${failed} failed"
+[[ "$failed" -eq 0 ]]