diff --git a/LTA/LTAIngest/LTAIngestServer/LTAIngestTransferServer/lib/ltacp.py b/LTA/LTAIngest/LTAIngestServer/LTAIngestTransferServer/lib/ltacp.py
index 4ce52c04561d050720797a196cba44c782c0f833..c5775838a79c975dbe173a38cdb8a3454853f871 100755
--- a/LTA/LTAIngest/LTAIngestServer/LTAIngestTransferServer/lib/ltacp.py
+++ b/LTA/LTAIngest/LTAIngestServer/LTAIngestTransferServer/lib/ltacp.py
@@ -232,6 +232,23 @@ class LtaCp:
             # determine if input is file
             input_is_file = self.is_soure_single_file()
 
+            if not input_is_file:
+                # make sure the file extension is .tar or .tar.gz
+                missing_suffix = ""
+                if self.gzip:
+                    if not (self.dst_surl.endswith(".tar.gz") or self.dst_surl.endswith(".tgz")):
+                        if self.dst_surl.endswith(".tar"):
+                            missing_suffix = ".gz"
+                        else:
+                            missing_suffix = ".tar.gz"
+                else:
+                    if not self.dst_surl.endswith(".tar"):
+                        missing_suffix = ".tar"
+
+                if missing_suffix:
+                    self.dst_surl += missing_suffix
+                    logger.info("ltacp %s: appending missing suffix %s to surl: %s", self.logId, missing_suffix, self.dst_surl)
+
             dst_turl = convert_surl_to_turl(self.dst_surl)
             logger.info('ltacp %s: initiating transfer of %s:%s to surl=%s turl=%s' % (self.logId,
                                                                                        self.src_host,
@@ -520,7 +537,7 @@ class LtaCp:
                 logger.info('ltacp %s: remote and local md5 checksums are equal: %s' % (self.logId, md5_checksum_local,))
 
             logger.info('ltacp %s: fetching adler32 checksum from LTA...' % self.logId)
-            srm_ok, srm_file_size, srm_a32_checksum = get_srm_size_and_a32_checksum(self.dst_surl, 'ltacp %s ' % self.logId)
+            srm_ok, srm_file_size, srm_a32_checksum = get_srm_size_and_a32_checksum(self.dst_surl, 'ltacp %s:' % self.logId)
 
             if not srm_ok:
                 raise LtacpException('ltacp %s: Could not get srm adler32 checksum for: %s'  % (self.logId, self.dst_surl))