diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing.yml b/.github/workflows/testing.yml
index 4907a8e489..b25239a316 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing.yml
@@ -377,84 +377,6 @@ jobs:
           pytest -v
           test/test_json.py
 
-  windows_tests:
-    name: Windows tests
-    if: |
-      ! github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'github-actions[bot]' ||
-      ! (
-        startsWith(github.head_ref, 'chore-sbom-py') ||
-        contains(
-          fromJSON('["chore-update-table","chore-precommit-config","chore-spdx-header"]'),
-          github.head_ref
-        )
-      )
-    runs-on: windows-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 90
-    env:
-      NO_EXIT_CVE_NUM: 1
-      PYTHONIOENCODING: 'utf8'
-    steps:
-      - name: Harden Runner
-        uses: step-security/harden-runner@63c24ba6bd7ba022e95695ff85de572c04a18142 # v2.7.0
-        with:
-          egress-policy: audit
-
-      - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # v4.1.1
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@0a5c61591373683505ea898e09a3ea4f39ef2b9c # v5.0.0
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.10'
-          cache: 'pip'
-      - name: Get date
-        id: get-date
-        run: |
-          echo "DATE=$(get-date -format "yyyyMMdd")" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Encoding utf8 -Append
-          echo "YESTERDAY=$(get-date (get-date).addDays(-1)  -format "yyyyMMdd")" | Out-File -FilePath $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Encoding utf8 -Append
-      - name: Print Cache Keys
-        run: |
-          echo "Today's Cache Key: Linux-cve-bin-tool-${{ steps.get-date.outputs.DATE }}"
-          echo "Yesterday's Cache Key: Linux-cve-bin-tool-${{ steps.get-date.outputs.YESTERDAY }}"
-      - name: Get today's cached database
-        uses: actions/cache@0c45773b623bea8c8e75f6c82b208c3cf94ea4f9 # v4.0.2
-        id: todays-cache
-        with:
-          path: cache
-          key: Linux-cve-bin-tool-${{ steps.get-date.outputs.DATE }}
-          enableCrossOsArchive: true
-      - name: Get yesterday's cached database if today's is not available
-        uses: actions/cache@0c45773b623bea8c8e75f6c82b208c3cf94ea4f9 # v4.0.2
-        if: steps.todays-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        with:
-          path: cache
-          key: Linux-cve-bin-tool-${{ steps.get-date.outputs.YESTERDAY }}
-          enableCrossOsArchive: true
-      - name: Move cache to ~/.cache/cve-bin-tool
-        run: |
-          mkdir '~\.cache'
-          if (Test-Path -Path cache) { mv cache '~\.cache\cve-bin-tool' }
-      - name: Install cve-bin-tool
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          python -m pip install --upgrade setuptools
-          python -m pip install --upgrade wheel
-          python -m pip install --upgrade -r dev-requirements.txt
-          python -m pip install --upgrade .
-      - name: Try single CLI run of tool
-        run: |
-          python -m cve_bin_tool.cli test/assets/test-kerberos-5-1.15.1.out
-      - name: Run async tests
-        run: >
-          pytest -n 4 -v
-          --ignore=test/test_cli.py
-          --ignore=test/test_cvedb.py
-          --ignore=test/test_requirements.py
-          --ignore=test/test_html.py
-          --ignore=test/test_json.py
-      - name: Run synchronous tests
-        run: >
-          pytest -v
-          test/test_cli.py
-          test/test_cvedb.py
-
   windows_long_tests:
     name: Windows long tests
     if: |
@@ -481,7 +403,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # v4.1.1
       - uses: actions/setup-python@0a5c61591373683505ea898e09a3ea4f39ef2b9c # v5.0.0
         with:
-          python-version: '3.9'
+          python-version: '3.12'
           cache: 'pip'
       - name: Get date
         id: get-date
diff --git a/cve_bin_tool/extractor.py b/cve_bin_tool/extractor.py
index f8e2a3aa67..8018b433e2 100644
--- a/cve_bin_tool/extractor.py
+++ b/cve_bin_tool/extractor.py
@@ -30,7 +30,13 @@
     run_coroutine,
 )
 
-from .error_handler import ErrorHandler, ErrorMode, ExtractionFailed, UnknownArchiveType
+from .error_handler import (
+    ErrorHandler,
+    ErrorMode,
+    ExtractionFailed,
+    ExtractionToolNotFound,
+    UnknownArchiveType,
+)
 from .log import LOGGER
 
 # Run rpmfile in a thread
@@ -139,9 +145,13 @@ async def extract_file_tar(self, filename, extraction_path):
                 # nosec line because bandit doesn't understand filters yet
 
             elif sys.platform == "win32":
-                # use unsafe extraction for now, fix will come in separate PR
-                with tarfile.open(filename) as tar:
-                    tar.extractall(path=extraction_path)  # nosec - fix in progress
+                # Windows users must use python 3.12 or later because the
+                # workaround below fails on windows
+                # Patches welcome if you can fix this!
+                self.logger.error(
+                    "Install python 3.12 or later to support tarfile extraction"
+                )
+                return ExtractionToolNotFound
 
             # Some versions may need us to implement a filter to avoid unsafe behaviour
             # we could consider logging a warning here