diff --git a/scripts/exgdas_enkf_earc.sh b/scripts/exgdas_enkf_earc.sh
index 4be690be1f..f172a4ef41 100755
--- a/scripts/exgdas_enkf_earc.sh
+++ b/scripts/exgdas_enkf_earc.sh
@@ -112,11 +112,7 @@ if [ "${ENSGRP}" -eq 0 ]; then
         fi
 
         set +e
-        tar_fl=${ATARDIR}/${PDY}${cyc}/${RUN}.tar
-        ${TARCMD} -P -cvf "${tar_fl}" $(cat "${ARCH_LIST}/${RUN}.txt")
-        status=$?
-
-        # Check if the newly created tarball has rstprod data in it
+        # Check if the tarball will have rstprod in it
         has_rstprod="NO"
         while IFS= read -r file; do
             if [[ -f ${file} ]]; then
@@ -128,6 +124,11 @@ if [ "${ENSGRP}" -eq 0 ]; then
             fi
         done < "${ARCH_LIST}/${RUN}.txt"
 
+        # Create the tarball
+        tar_fl=${ATARDIR}/${PDY}${cyc}/${RUN}.tar
+        ${TARCMD} -P -cvf "${tar_fl}" $(cat "${ARCH_LIST}/${RUN}.txt")
+        status=$?
+
         # If rstprod was found, change the group of the tarball
         if [[ "${has_rstprod}" == "YES" ]]; then
             ${HSICMD} chgrp rstprod "${tar_fl}"
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ if [ "${ENSGRP}" -eq 0 ]; then
             fi
         fi
 
-        # For safety, test if the htar/tar command failed after changing groups
+        # For safety, test if the htar/tar command failed only after changing groups
         if (( status != 0 && ${PDY}${cyc} >= firstday )); then
             echo "FATAL ERROR: ${TARCMD} ${tar_fl} failed"
             exit "${status}"
diff --git a/scripts/exglobal_archive.sh b/scripts/exglobal_archive.sh
index afab846986..54323a0dd0 100755
--- a/scripts/exglobal_archive.sh
+++ b/scripts/exglobal_archive.sh
@@ -262,14 +262,11 @@ if [[ ${HPSSARCH} = "YES" || ${LOCALARCH} = "YES" ]]; then
     shopt -s extglob
     for targrp in ${targrp_list}; do
         set +e
-        tar_fl="${ATARDIR}/${PDY}${cyc}/${targrp}.tar"
-        ${TARCMD} -P -cvf "${tar_fl}" $(cat "${ARCH_LIST}/${targrp}.txt")
-        status=$?
 
-        # Test gdas.tas and gdas_restarta.tar for rstprod and change group if so
+        # Test whether gdas.tar or gdas_restarta.tar will have rstprod data
+        has_rstprod="NO"
         case ${targrp} in
             'gdas'|'gdas_restarta')
-                has_rstprod="NO"
                 # Test for rstprod in each archived file
                 while IFS= read -r file; do
                     if [[ -f ${file} ]]; then
@@ -281,24 +278,30 @@ if [[ ${HPSSARCH} = "YES" || ${LOCALARCH} = "YES" ]]; then
                     fi
                 done < "${ARCH_LIST}/${targrp}.txt"
 
-                # Change group to rstprod if it was found
-                if [[ "${has_rstprod}" == "YES" ]]; then
-                    ${HSICMD} chgrp rstprod "${tar_fl}"
-                    stat_chgrp=$?
-                    ${HSICMD} chmod 640 "${tar_fl}"
-                    stat_chgrp=$((stat_chgrp+$?))
-                    if [ "${stat_chgrp}" -gt 0 ]; then
-                        echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to properly restrict ${tar_fl}!"
-                        echo "Attempting to delete ${tar_fl}"
-                        ${HSICMD} rm "${tar_fl}"
-                        echo "Please verify that ${tar_fl} was deleted!"
-                        exit "${stat_chgrp}"
-                    fi
-                fi
                 ;;
             *) ;;
         esac
 
+        # Create the tarball
+        tar_fl="${ATARDIR}/${PDY}${cyc}/${targrp}.tar"
+        ${TARCMD} -P -cvf "${tar_fl}" $(cat "${ARCH_LIST}/${targrp}.txt")
+        status=$?
+
+        # Change group to rstprod if it was found even if htar/tar failed in case of partial creation
+        if [[ "${has_rstprod}" == "YES" ]]; then
+            ${HSICMD} chgrp rstprod "${tar_fl}"
+            stat_chgrp=$?
+            ${HSICMD} chmod 640 "${tar_fl}"
+            stat_chgrp=$((stat_chgrp+$?))
+            if [ "${stat_chgrp}" -gt 0 ]; then
+                echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to properly restrict ${tar_fl}!"
+                echo "Attempting to delete ${tar_fl}"
+                ${HSICMD} rm "${tar_fl}"
+                echo "Please verify that ${tar_fl} was deleted!"
+                exit "${stat_chgrp}"
+            fi
+        fi
+
         # For safety, test if the htar/tar command failed after changing groups
         if [[ "${status}" -ne 0 ]] && [[ "${PDY}${cyc}" -ge "${firstday}" ]]; then
             echo "FATAL ERROR: ${TARCMD} ${tar_fl} failed"