diff --git a/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs b/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs
index 2f9f99f2..61257027 100644
--- a/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs
+++ b/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module Stackage.LoadDatabase where
 
 import qualified Codec.Archive.Tar                     as Tar
@@ -44,11 +43,7 @@ loadPackageDB core deps = do
     lbs <- L.readFile tarName
     addEntries mempty $ Tar.read lbs
   where
-#if MIN_VERSION_tar(0, 4, 0)
-    addEntries _ (Tar.Fail e) = throwIO e
-#else
-    addEntries _ (Tar.Fail e) = error e
-#endif
+    addEntries _ (Tar.Fail e) = error $ show e
     addEntries db Tar.Done = return db
     addEntries db (Tar.Next e es) = addEntry db e >>= flip addEntries es
 
diff --git a/Stackage/Tarballs.hs b/Stackage/Tarballs.hs
index bfe8c28f..32d7f21a 100644
--- a/Stackage/Tarballs.hs
+++ b/Stackage/Tarballs.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module Stackage.Tarballs
     ( makeTarballs
     ) where
@@ -27,11 +26,8 @@ makeTarballs ii = do
     createDirectoryIfMissing True $ takeDirectory extraTar
     L.writeFile extraTar $ Tar.write extraEntries
   where
-#if MIN_VERSION_tar(0, 4, 0)
-    loop _ _ (Tar.Fail err) = throwIO err
-#else
-    loop _ _ (Tar.Fail err) = error err
-#endif
+    -- Using "error . show" for compatibility with tar 0.3 and 0.4
+    loop _ _ (Tar.Fail err) = error $ show err
     loop stable extra Tar.Done = return (stable [], extra [])
     loop stable extra (Tar.Next e es) =
         loop stable' extra' es