diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory.go
index ec529a136..f71ba9ee2 100644
--- a/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory.go
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func NewFromDirectory(root, base string, maxArchiveRecursiveIndexDepth int, path
 		return nil, cleanupFn, fmt.Errorf("unable to build index: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	if maxArchiveRecursiveIndexDepth != 0 {
+	if maxArchiveRecursiveIndexDepth != 0 && len(directory.indexer.archivePaths) > 0 {
 		archiveTempDir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", archiveTempPathPattern)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, cleanupFn, fmt.Errorf("unable to create tempdir for archive processing: %w", err)
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ func (r *Directory) buildArchiveIndex(archiveTempDir string, archives []string,
 	archivesToIndex := make([]archiveAccessPath, len(archives))
 	for i, archive := range archives {
 		archivesToIndex[i] = archiveAccessPath{
-			realPath:        archive,
-			accessPath:      archive,
+			realPath:        r.Chroot.ToChrootPath(archive),
+			accessPath:      r.Chroot.ToChrootPath(archive),
 			archiveRealPath: archive,
 		}
 	}
@@ -173,7 +173,6 @@ loop:
 			})
 		}
 
-		d.Chroot = r.Chroot
 		d.realPath = currentArchivePath.realPath
 		d.accessPath = currentArchivePath.accessPath
 		d.archiveRealPath = archiveDestinationPath
diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/filetree_resolver.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/filetree_resolver.go
index 24be3252c..6c1b24d09 100644
--- a/syft/internal/fileresolver/filetree_resolver.go
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/filetree_resolver.go
@@ -55,10 +55,6 @@ func (r *FiletreeResolver) requestPath(userPath string) (string, error) {
 
 // responsePath takes a path from the underlying fs domain and converts it to a path that is relative to the root of the file resolver.
 func (r FiletreeResolver) responsePath(path string) string {
-	if r.archiveRealPath != "" && strings.HasPrefix(path, r.archiveRealPath) {
-		path = r.realPath
-	}
-
 	return r.Chroot.ToChrootPath(path)
 }
 
diff --git a/test/cli/archive_test.go b/test/cli/archive_test.go
index a35b4ead2..233fa2d3a 100644
--- a/test/cli/archive_test.go
+++ b/test/cli/archive_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestArchiveScan(t *testing.T) {
+	archive := createArchive(t, "test-fixtures/archive", t.TempDir())
+	nestedArchive := createArchive(t, filepath.Dir(archive), t.TempDir())
 	tests := []struct {
 		name           string
 		args           []string
@@ -23,7 +25,21 @@ func TestArchiveScan(t *testing.T) {
 				"scan",
 				"-o",
 				"json",
-				"file:" + createArchive(t, "test-fixtures/archive", t.TempDir()),
+				"file:" + archive,
+			},
+			assertions: []traitAssertion{
+				assertSuccessfulReturnCode,
+				assertJsonReport,
+				assertPackageCount(1),
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "scan an nested archive within the temp dir",
+			args: []string{
+				"scan",
+				"-o",
+				"json",
+				"file:" + nestedArchive,
 			},
 			assertions: []traitAssertion{
 				assertSuccessfulReturnCode,