diff --git a/runtime/plugin/net.lua b/runtime/plugin/net.lua
index f088a8b58a..ac3700ee26 100644
--- a/runtime/plugin/net.lua
+++ b/runtime/plugin/net.lua
@@ -6,6 +6,32 @@ vim.g.loaded_nvim_net_plugin = true
 local augroup = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup('nvim.net.remotefile', {})
 local url_patterns = { 'http://*', 'https://*' }
 
+local archive_patterns = {
+  { suffix = '.tar.gz', kind = 'tar' },
+  { suffix = '.tar.bz2', kind = 'tar' },
+  { suffix = '.tar.xz', kind = 'tar' },
+  { suffix = '.txz', kind = 'tar' },
+  { suffix = '.tar', kind = 'tar' },
+  { suffix = '.zip', kind = 'zip' },
+}
+
+---@param url string
+---@return string
+local function url_path(url)
+  return (url:gsub('[?#].*$', ''))
+end
+
+---@param url string
+---@return 'zip'|'tar'?
+local function archive_type(url)
+  local path = url_path(url)
+  for _, pattern in ipairs(archive_patterns) do
+    if vim.endswith(path, pattern.suffix) then
+      return pattern.kind
+    end
+  end
+end
+
 vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('BufReadCmd', {
   group = augroup,
   pattern = url_patterns,
@@ -17,8 +43,36 @@ vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('BufReadCmd', {
     end
 
     local url = ev.file
+    local archive_kind = archive_type(url)
+
     vim.notify(('Fetching %s …'):format(url), vim.log.levels.INFO)
 
+    if archive_kind then
+      -- XXX: zipPlugin.vim, tarPlugin.vim don't work with non-file buffers.
+      local tmpfile = vim.fn.tempname()
+
+      vim.net.request(
+        url,
+        { outpath = tmpfile },
+        vim.schedule_wrap(function(err)
+          if err then
+            vim.notify(('Failed to fetch %s: %s'):format(url, err), vim.log.levels.ERROR)
+            return
+          end
+
+          if archive_kind == 'zip' then
+            vim.fn['zip#Browse'](tmpfile)
+          else
+            vim.fn['tar#Browse'](tmpfile)
+          end
+
+          vim.bo[ev.buf].modified = false
+          vim.notify(('Loaded %s'):format(url), vim.log.levels.INFO)
+        end)
+      )
+      return
+    end
+
     vim.net.request(
       url,
       { outbuf = ev.buf },
diff --git a/test/functional/lua/net_spec.lua b/test/functional/lua/net_spec.lua
index 253f7c30d4..2057ce3331 100644
--- a/test/functional/lua/net_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/lua/net_spec.lua
@@ -113,4 +113,54 @@ describe('vim.net.request', function()
     t.eq(true, content[1]:find('Here') ~= nil)
     t.eq(true, content[2]:find('html') ~= nil)
   end)
+
+  it('opens remote tar.gz URLs as tar archives', function()
+    t.skip(skip_integ, 'NVIM_TEST_INTEG not set: skipping network integration test')
+
+    local rv = exec_lua([[
+      vim.cmd('runtime! plugin/net.lua')
+      vim.cmd('runtime! plugin/tarPlugin.vim')
+
+      vim.cmd('edit https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/nightly/nvim-macos-x86_64.tar.gz')
+
+      vim.wait(2500, function()
+        return vim.bo.filetype == 'tar' or vim.b.tarfile ~= nil
+      end)
+
+      return {
+        filetype = vim.bo.filetype,
+        modified = vim.bo.modified,
+        tarfile = vim.b.tarfile ~= nil,
+      }
+    ]])
+
+    t.eq('tar', rv.filetype)
+    t.eq(false, rv.modified)
+    t.eq(true, rv.tarfile)
+  end)
+
+  it('opens remote zip URLs as zip archives', function()
+    t.skip(skip_integ, 'NVIM_TEST_INTEG not set: skipping network integration test')
+
+    local rv = exec_lua([[
+      vim.cmd('runtime! plugin/net.lua')
+      vim.cmd('runtime! plugin/zipPlugin.vim')
+
+      vim.cmd('edit https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/nightly/nvim-win-arm64.zip')
+
+      vim.wait(2500, function()
+        return vim.bo.filetype == 'zip' or vim.b.zipfile ~= nil
+      end)
+
+      return {
+        filetype = vim.bo.filetype,
+        modified = vim.bo.modified,
+        zipfile = vim.b.zipfile ~= nil,
+      }
+    ]])
+
+    t.eq('zip', rv.filetype)
+    t.eq(false, rv.modified)
+    t.eq(true, rv.zipfile)
+  end)
 end)