diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/fetch_strategy.py b/lib/spack/spack/fetch_strategy.py
index 69c04f7920d..38133ee0cae 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/fetch_strategy.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/fetch_strategy.py
@@ -307,9 +307,6 @@ def archive(self, destination):
         if not self.archive_file:
             raise NoArchiveFileError("Cannot call archive() before fetching.")
 
-        if not extension(destination) == extension(self.archive_file):
-            raise ValueError("Cannot archive without matching extensions.")
-
         shutil.copy(self.archive_file, destination)
 
     @_needs_stage