diff --git a/sigmf/archive.py b/sigmf/archive.py
index b60090b..86c2ecc 100644
--- a/sigmf/archive.py
+++ b/sigmf/archive.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import tarfile
 import tempfile
 
-from . import error
+from .error import SigMFFileError
 
 
 SIGMF_ARCHIVE_EXT = ".sigmf"
@@ -106,14 +106,14 @@ def _ensure_name_has_correct_extension(self):
         if has_extension and not has_correct_extension:
             apparent_ext = os.path.splitext(name)[-1]
             err = "extension {} != {}".format(apparent_ext, SIGMF_ARCHIVE_EXT)
-            raise error.SigMFFileError(err)
+            raise SigMFFileError(err)
 
         self.name = name if has_correct_extension else name + SIGMF_ARCHIVE_EXT
 
     def _ensure_data_file_set(self):
         if not self.sigmffile.data_file:
             err = "no data file - use `set_data_file`"
-            raise error.SigMFFileError(err)
+            raise SigMFFileError(err)
 
     def _validate_sigmffile_metadata(self):
         self.sigmffile.validate()
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def _get_output_fileobj(self):
             else:
                 err = "can't open {!r} for writing".format(self.name)
 
-            raise error.SigMFFileError(err)
+            raise SigMFFileError(err)
 
         return fileobj
 
diff --git a/sigmf/archivereader.py b/sigmf/archivereader.py
index 8eac4f5..5759b74 100644
--- a/sigmf/archivereader.py
+++ b/sigmf/archivereader.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from .sigmffile import SigMFFile
 from .archive import SigMFArchive, SIGMF_DATASET_EXT, SIGMF_METADATA_EXT, SIGMF_ARCHIVE_EXT
 from .utils import dict_merge
-from .error import SigMFFileError, SigMFAccessError
+from .error import SigMFFileError
 
 
 class SigMFArchiveReader():
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def __init__(self, name=None, skip_checksum=False, map_readonly=True, archive_bu
         if self.name is not None:
             if not name.endswith(SIGMF_ARCHIVE_EXT):
                 err = "archive extension != {}".format(SIGMF_ARCHIVE_EXT)
-                raise error.SigMFFileError(err)
+                raise SigMFFileError(err)
 
             tar_obj = tarfile.open(self.name)
 
@@ -69,12 +69,10 @@ def __init__(self, name=None, skip_checksum=False, map_readonly=True, archive_bu
                 print('A member of type', memb.type, 'and name', memb.name, 'was found but not handled, just FYI.')
 
         if data_offset_size is None:
-            raise error.SigMFFileError('No .sigmf-data file found in archive!')
+            raise SigMFFileError('No .sigmf-data file found in archive!')
 
         self.sigmffile = SigMFFile(metadata=json_contents)
         valid_md = self.sigmffile.validate()
-        if not valid_md:
-            print('Metadata in archive did not .validate()!')
 
         self.sigmffile.set_data_file(self.name, data_buffer=archive_buffer, skip_checksum=skip_checksum, offset=data_offset_size[0],
                                      size_bytes=data_offset_size[1], map_readonly=map_readonly)
diff --git a/sigmf/sigmffile.py b/sigmf/sigmffile.py
index 117cf68..ee35d04 100644
--- a/sigmf/sigmffile.py
+++ b/sigmf/sigmffile.py
@@ -891,35 +891,11 @@ def get_dataset_filename_from_metadata(meta_fn, metadata=None):
 def fromarchive(archive_path, dir=None):
     """Extract an archive and return a SigMFFile.
 
-    If `dir` is given, extract the archive to that directory. Otherwise,
-    the archive will be extracted to a temporary directory. For example,
-    `dir` == "." will extract the archive into the current working
-    directory.
+    The `dir` parameter is no longer used as this function has been changed to
+    access SigMF archives without extracting them.
     """
-    if not dir:
-        dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-
-    archive = tarfile.open(archive_path, mode="r", format=tarfile.PAX_FORMAT)
-    members = archive.getmembers()
-
-    try:
-        archive.extractall(path=dir)
-
-        data_file = None
-        metadata = None
-
-        for member in members:
-            if member.name.endswith(SIGMF_METADATA_EXT):
-                bytestream_reader = codecs.getreader("utf-8")  # bytes -> str
-                mdfile_reader = bytestream_reader(archive.extractfile(member))
-                metadata = json.load(mdfile_reader)
-                data_file = get_dataset_filename_from_metadata(member.name, metadata)
-            else:
-                archive.extractfile(member)
-    finally:
-        archive.close()
-
-    return SigMFFile(metadata=metadata, data_file=data_file)
+    from .archivereader import SigMFArchiveReader
+    return SigMFArchiveReader(archive_path).sigmffile
 
 
 def fromfile(filename, skip_checksum=False):