diff -r 0acc5626a578 Doc/library/shutil.rst
--- a/Doc/library/shutil.rst	Tue Oct 23 22:50:11 2012 +0100
+++ b/Doc/library/shutil.rst	Thu Oct 25 00:23:59 2012 +0300
@@ -437,7 +437,8 @@
 
    *base_name* is the name of the file to create, including the path, minus
    any format-specific extension. *format* is the archive format: one of
-   "zip", "tar", "bztar" (if the :mod:`bz2` module is available) or "gztar".
+   "zip", "tar", "bztar" (if the :mod:`bz2` module is available), "xztar"
+   (if the :mod:`lzma` module is available) or "gztar".
 
    *root_dir* is a directory that will be the root directory of the
    archive; for example, we typically chdir into *root_dir* before creating the
@@ -465,6 +466,7 @@
 
    - *gztar*: gzip'ed tar-file
    - *bztar*: bzip2'ed tar-file (if the :mod:`bz2` module is available.)
+   - *xztar*: xz'ed tar-file (if the :mod:`lzma` module is available.)
    - *tar*: uncompressed tar file
    - *zip*: ZIP file
 
@@ -535,6 +537,7 @@
 
    - *gztar*: gzip'ed tar-file
    - *bztar*: bzip2'ed tar-file (if the :mod:`bz2` module is available.)
+   - *xztar*: xz'ed tar-file (if the :mod:`lzma` module is available.)
    - *tar*: uncompressed tar file
    - *zip*: ZIP file
 
diff -r 0acc5626a578 Lib/shutil.py
--- a/Lib/shutil.py	Tue Oct 23 22:50:11 2012 +0100
+++ b/Lib/shutil.py	Thu Oct 25 00:23:59 2012 +0300
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@
     _BZ2_SUPPORTED = False
 
 try:
+    import lzma
+    del lzma
+    _LZMA_SUPPORTED = True
+except ImportError:
+    _LZMA_SUPPORTED = False
+
+try:
     from pwd import getpwnam
 except ImportError:
     getpwnam = None
@@ -561,14 +568,14 @@
     """Create a (possibly compressed) tar file from all the files under
     'base_dir'.
 
-    'compress' must be "gzip" (the default), "bzip2", or None.
+    'compress' must be "gzip" (the default), "bzip2", "xz", or None.
 
     'owner' and 'group' can be used to define an owner and a group for the
     archive that is being built. If not provided, the current owner and group
     will be used.
 
     The output tar file will be named 'base_name' +  ".tar", possibly plus
-    the appropriate compression extension (".gz", or ".bz2").
+    the appropriate compression extension (".gz", ".bz2", or ".xz").
 
     Returns the output filename.
     """
@@ -579,6 +586,10 @@
         tar_compression['bzip2'] = 'bz2'
         compress_ext['bzip2'] = '.bz2'
 
+    if _LZMA_SUPPORTED:
+        tar_compression['xz'] = 'xz'
+        compress_ext['xz'] = '.xz'
+
     # flags for compression program, each element of list will be an argument
     if compress is not None and compress not in compress_ext:
         raise ValueError("bad value for 'compress', or compression format not "
@@ -692,6 +703,10 @@
     _ARCHIVE_FORMATS['bztar'] = (_make_tarball, [('compress', 'bzip2')],
                                 "bzip2'ed tar-file")
 
+if _LZMA_SUPPORTED:
+    _ARCHIVE_FORMATS['xztar'] = (_make_tarball, [('compress', 'xz')],
+                                "xz'ed tar-file")
+
 def get_archive_formats():
     """Returns a list of supported formats for archiving and unarchiving.
 
@@ -880,7 +895,7 @@
         zip.close()
 
 def _unpack_tarfile(filename, extract_dir):
-    """Unpack tar/tar.gz/tar.bz2 `filename` to `extract_dir`
+    """Unpack tar/tar.gz/tar.bz2/tar.xz `filename` to `extract_dir`
     """
     try:
         tarobj = tarfile.open(filename)
@@ -902,6 +917,10 @@
     _UNPACK_FORMATS['bztar'] = (['.bz2'], _unpack_tarfile, [],
                                 "bzip2'ed tar-file")
 
+if _LZMA_SUPPORTED:
+    _UNPACK_FORMATS['xztar'] = (['.xz'], _unpack_tarfile, [],
+                                "xz'ed tar-file")
+
 def _find_unpack_format(filename):
     for name, info in _UNPACK_FORMATS.items():
         for extension in info[0]:
diff -r 0acc5626a578 Lib/test/test_shutil.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_shutil.py	Tue Oct 23 22:50:11 2012 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/test_shutil.py	Thu Oct 25 00:23:59 2012 +0300
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@
 except ImportError:
     BZ2_SUPPORTED = False
 
+try:
+    import lzma
+    LZMA_SUPPORTED = True
+except ImportError:
+    LZMA_SUPPORTED = False
+
 TESTFN2 = TESTFN + "2"
 
 try:
@@ -1078,6 +1084,8 @@
         formats = ['tar', 'gztar', 'zip']
         if BZ2_SUPPORTED:
             formats.append('bztar')
+        if LZMA_SUPPORTED:
+            formats.append('xztar')
 
         for format in formats:
             tmpdir = self.mkdtemp()