diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 267a399..e232689 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ repositories {
 
 dependencies {
 	compile 'org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on:1.51'
+	compile 'org.kamranzafar:jtar:2.3'
 }
 
 sourceSets {
diff --git a/src/org/nick/abe/AndroidBackup.java b/src/org/nick/abe/AndroidBackup.java
index 7a07ce0..d53f0ff 100644
--- a/src/org/nick/abe/AndroidBackup.java
+++ b/src/org/nick/abe/AndroidBackup.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.Console;
 import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@
 import org.bouncycastle.crypto.generators.PKCS5S2ParametersGenerator;
 import org.bouncycastle.crypto.params.KeyParameter;
 
+import org.kamranzafar.jtar.TarEntry;
+import org.kamranzafar.jtar.TarInputStream;
+
 // mostly lifted off com.android.server.BackupManagerService.java
 public class AndroidBackup {
 
@@ -50,8 +54,8 @@ public class AndroidBackup {
     private AndroidBackup() {
     }
 
-    public static void extractAsTar(String backupFilename, String filename,
-            String password) {
+    private static InputStream getContentInputStream(String backupFilename, String
+            password) {
         try {
             InputStream rawInStream = getInputStream(backupFilename);
             CipherInputStream cipherStream = null;
@@ -173,6 +177,16 @@ public static void extractAsTar(String backupFilename, String filename,
             InputStream baseStream = isEncrypted ? cipherStream : rawInStream;
             InputStream in = isCompressed ? new InflaterInputStream(baseStream)
                     : baseStream;
+            return in;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void extractAsTar(String backupFilename, String filename,
+            String password) {
+        try {
+            InputStream in = getContentInputStream(backupFilename, password);
             OutputStream out = null;
             try {
                 out = getOutputStream(filename);
@@ -204,6 +218,55 @@ public static void extractAsTar(String backupFilename, String filename,
         }
     }
 
+    public static void extractHelium(String backupFilename, String outputDirectory, String password) {
+        InputStream in = getContentInputStream(backupFilename, password);
+
+        try {
+            TarInputStream tis = new TarInputStream(in);
+
+            File outputDir = new File(outputDirectory);
+            outputDir.mkdirs();
+
+            TarEntry entry;
+
+            while((entry = tis.getNextEntry()) != null) {
+                if (DEBUG) {
+                    System.err.println(entry.getName());
+                }
+
+                String name = entry.getName();
+                if (entry.isDirectory())
+                {
+                    new File(outputDir, entry.getName()).mkdirs();
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    int lastSlashIndex = name.lastIndexOf("/");
+                    String dironly = name.substring(0, lastSlashIndex);
+                    File destDir = new File(outputDir, dironly);
+                    destDir.mkdirs();
+                    File destFile = new File (destDir, name.substring(lastSlashIndex + 1));
+
+                    int count;
+                    byte data[] = new byte[2048];
+                    FileOutputStream dest = new FileOutputStream(destFile);
+
+                    while((count = tis.read(data)) != -1) {
+                        dest.write(data, 0, count);
+                    }
+
+                    dest.flush();
+                    dest.close();
+                }
+            }
+
+            tis.close();
+        } catch (Exception e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
     public static void packTar(String tarFilename, String backupFilename,
             String password, boolean isKitKat) {
         boolean encrypting = password != null && !"".equals(password);
diff --git a/src/org/nick/abe/Main.java b/src/org/nick/abe/Main.java
index 56f8ebf..6cd97a5 100644
--- a/src/org/nick/abe/Main.java
+++ b/src/org/nick/abe/Main.java
@@ -17,15 +17,12 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
         }
 
         String mode = args[0];
-        if (!"pack".equals(mode) && !"unpack".equals(mode) && !"pack-kk".equals(mode)) {
+        if (!"pack".equals(mode) && !"unpack".equals(mode) && !"pack-kk".equals(mode) && !"unpack-helium".equals(mode)) {
             usage();
 
             System.exit(1);
         }
 
-        boolean unpack = "unpack".equals(mode);
-        String backupFilename = unpack ? args[1] : args[2];
-        String tarFilename = unpack ? args[2] : args[1];
         String password = null;
         if (args.length > 3) {
             password = args[3];
@@ -36,9 +33,17 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
             password = System.getenv("ABE_PASSWD");
         }
 
-        if (unpack) {
+        if ("unpack".equals(mode)) {
+            String backupFilename = args[1];
+            String tarFilename = args[2];
             AndroidBackup.extractAsTar(backupFilename, tarFilename, password);
+        } else if ("unpack-helium".equals(mode)) {
+            String backupFilename = args[1];
+            String outputDirectory = args[2];
+            AndroidBackup.extractHelium(backupFilename, outputDirectory, password);
         } else {
+            String backupFilename = args[2];
+            String tarFilename = args[1];
             boolean isKitKat = "pack-kk".equals(mode);
             AndroidBackup.packTar(tarFilename, backupFilename, password, isKitKat);
         }
@@ -49,6 +54,8 @@ private static void usage() {
         System.out.println("Usage:");
         System.out
                 .println("  unpack:\tabe unpack\t<backup.ab> <backup.tar> [password]");
+        System.out
+                .println("  unpack-helium:\tabe unpack-helium\t<backup.ab> outputDir [password]");
         System.out
                 .println("  pack:\t\tabe pack\t<backup.tar> <backup.ab> [password]");
         System.out