diff --git a/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared.py b/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared.py
index 847c908e15..dfa904a054 100644
--- a/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared.py
+++ b/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import logging
 import re
 from pathlib import Path
+from tarfile import ReadError
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 
 from learning_resources.etl.constants import ETLSource
@@ -133,8 +134,13 @@ def sync_edx_course_files(
             course_tarpath = Path(export_tempdir, key.split("/")[-1])
             log.info("course tarpath for run %s is %s", run.run_id, course_tarpath)
             bucket.download_file(key, course_tarpath)
-            checksum = calc_checksum(course_tarpath)
+            try:
+                checksum = calc_checksum(course_tarpath)
+            except ReadError:
+                log.exception("Error reading tar file %s, skipping", course_tarpath)
+                continue
             if run.checksum == checksum:
+                log.info("Checksums match for %s, skipping", key)
                 continue
             try:
                 load_content_files(run, transform_content_files(course_tarpath, run))
diff --git a/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared_test.py b/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared_test.py
index 20cc53ceff..2f70de60d1 100644
--- a/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared_test.py
+++ b/learning_resources/etl/edx_shared_test.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 """ETL utils test"""
 
 from pathlib import Path
-from subprocess import CalledProcessError
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -121,24 +120,11 @@ def test_sync_edx_course_files_invalid_tarfile(
         "learning_resources.etl.edx_shared.get_learning_course_bucket",
         return_value=bucket,
     )
-    mock_load_content_files = mocker.patch(
-        "learning_resources.etl.edx_shared.load_content_files",
-        autospec=True,
-        return_value=[],
-    )
-    mocker.patch(
-        "learning_resources.etl.edx_shared.transform_content_files",
-        side_effect=CalledProcessError(0, ""),
-    )
     mock_log = mocker.patch("learning_resources.etl.edx_shared.log.exception")
 
     sync_edx_course_files(platform, [run.learning_resource.id], [key])
-    mock_load_content_files.assert_not_called()
     mock_log.assert_called_once()
-    assert (
-        mock_log.call_args[0][0].startswith("Error ingesting OLX content data for")
-        is True
-    )
+    assert mock_log.call_args[0][0].startswith("Error reading tar file") is True
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
diff --git a/learning_resources/etl/utils.py b/learning_resources/etl/utils.py
index 8ba96a966e..c7257827af 100644
--- a/learning_resources/etl/utils.py
+++ b/learning_resources/etl/utils.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import mimetypes
 import os
 import re
+import tarfile
 import uuid
 from collections import Counter
 from collections.abc import Generator
@@ -509,11 +510,8 @@ def calc_checksum(filename) -> str:
     Returns:
         str: The md5 checksum of the file
     """
-    hash_md5 = md5()  # noqa: S324
-    with Path.open(Path(filename), "rb") as f:
-        for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(4096), b""):
-            hash_md5.update(chunk)
-    return hash_md5.hexdigest()
+    with tarfile.open(filename, "r") as tgz_file:
+        return str(hash(tuple(ti.chksum for ti in tgz_file.getmembers())))
 
 
 def get_content_type(file_type: str) -> str:
diff --git a/learning_resources/etl/utils_test.py b/learning_resources/etl/utils_test.py
index 67620f3154..a99c7b7229 100644
--- a/learning_resources/etl/utils_test.py
+++ b/learning_resources/etl/utils_test.py
@@ -462,3 +462,22 @@ def test_parse_certification(offered_by, availability, has_cert):
 def test_clean_data(input_text, output_text):
     """clean_data function should return expected output"""
     assert utils.clean_data(input_text) == output_text
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("previous_archive", "identical"),
+    [
+        ("test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_no_change.tar.gz", True),
+        ("test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_minor_change.tar.gz", False),
+    ],
+)
+def test_calc_checksum(previous_archive, identical):
+    """
+    calc_checksum should be able to accurately identify identical vs different archives.
+    All 3 tar.gz files created on OSX from the same directory.  One archive has a minor
+    text change in one file, "400" to "500".
+    """
+    reference_checksum = utils.calc_checksum(
+        "test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022.tar.gz"
+    )
+    assert (utils.calc_checksum(previous_archive) == reference_checksum) is identical
diff --git a/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022.tar.gz b/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022.tar.gz
index 5ed563400c..4bdd5548ea 100644
Binary files a/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022.tar.gz and b/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_minor_change.tar.gz b/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_minor_change.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2143c33a2d
Binary files /dev/null and b/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_minor_change.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_no_change.tar.gz b/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_no_change.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0cb0005843
Binary files /dev/null and b/test_json/course-v1:MITxT+8.01.3x+3T2022_no_change.tar.gz differ