diff --git a/dev-python/btrfsutil/btrfsutil-6.9.ebuild b/dev-python/btrfsutil/btrfsutil-6.9.ebuild
index 6da2d87766a85..15d87b1437163 100644
--- a/dev-python/btrfsutil/btrfsutil-6.9.ebuild
+++ b/dev-python/btrfsutil/btrfsutil-6.9.ebuild
@@ -34,10 +34,13 @@ distutils_enable_tests unittest
 RDEPEND+=" !sys-fs/btrfs-progs[python(-)]"
 
 src_unpack() {
-	if use verify-sig ; then
-		verify-sig_verify_detached \
-			<(xz -cd "${DISTDIR}"/${MY_P}.tar.xz) \
-			"${DISTDIR}"/${MY_P}.tar.sign
+	# Upstream sign the decompressed .tar
+	if use verify-sig; then
+		einfo "Unpacking ${MY_P}.tar.xz ..."
+		verify-sig_verify_detached - "${DISTDIR}"/${MY_P}.tar.sign \
+			< <(xz -cd "${DISTDIR}"/${MY_P}.tar.xz | tee >(tar -x))
+		assert "Unpack failed"
+	else
+		default
 	fi
-	default
 }