diff --git a/pkg/machine/define/image_format.go b/pkg/machine/define/image_format.go
index 6adbe75c75..ab96da7625 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/define/image_format.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/define/image_format.go
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ func (imf ImageFormat) Kind() string {
 }
 
 func (imf ImageFormat) KindWithCompression() string {
-	// Tar uses xz; all others use zstd
-	if imf == Tar {
-		return "tar.xz"
-	}
+	// All image formats are compressed with zstd
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s.zst", imf.Kind())
 }
diff --git a/pkg/machine/define/image_format_test.go b/pkg/machine/define/image_format_test.go
index 8c07a6bbd7..fe7c80e739 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/define/image_format_test.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/define/image_format_test.go
@@ -59,9 +59,9 @@ func TestImageFormat_KindWithCompression(t *testing.T) {
 			imf:  Raw,
 			want: "raw.zst",
 		}, {
-			name: "tar.xz",
+			name: "tar.zst",
 			imf:  Tar,
-			want: "tar.xz",
+			want: "tar.zst",
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {