diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/debug.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/debug.py
index c4b5b427ad0..b1d33eb67df 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/debug.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/debug.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import os
 import platform
 import re
+import sys
 from datetime import datetime
 from glob import glob
 
@@ -62,9 +63,10 @@ def create_db_tarball(args):
 
     base = os.path.basename(str(spack.store.STORE.root))
     transform_args = []
+    # Currently --transform and -s are not supported by Windows native tar
     if "GNU" in tar("--version", output=str):
         transform_args = ["--transform", "s/^%s/%s/" % (base, tarball_name)]
-    else:
+    elif sys.platform != "win32":
         transform_args = ["-s", "/^%s/%s/" % (base, tarball_name)]
 
     wd = os.path.dirname(str(spack.store.STORE.root))
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/debug.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/debug.py
index 1d29f441681..55d0928fbde 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/debug.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/debug.py
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 debug = SpackCommand("debug")
 
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.not_on_windows("does not run on windows")
-
 
 @pytest.mark.db
 def test_create_db_tarball(tmpdir, database):