diff --git a/formats/tarimageformatter.py b/formats/tarimageformatter.py
index 361f6256d..e88275b03 100644
--- a/formats/tarimageformatter.py
+++ b/formats/tarimageformatter.py
@@ -43,4 +43,6 @@ class TarImageFormatter(object):
     """ Returns TAR file header data for a folder with the given name. """
     info = tarfile.TarInfo(name=name)
     info.type = tarfile.DIRTYPE
+    # allow the directory to be readable by non-root users
+    info.mode = 0755
     return info.tobuf()
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