diff --git a/version-rust/src/extract.rs b/version-rust/src/extract.rs
index c6df56e..91b4ed3 100644
--- a/version-rust/src/extract.rs
+++ b/version-rust/src/extract.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,27 @@ pub fn is_archive(name: &str) -> bool {
     !archive_suffixes(name).is_empty()
 }
 
+/// Sniff the container format from magic bytes (7z/zip/rar). The python
+/// version shells out to the 7z CLI, which sniffs content; extensions are
+/// unreliable in the wild (we have seen real 7z archives named `.zip`).
+fn sniff_container(path: &Path) -> Option<&'static str> {
+    use std::io::Read;
+    let mut buf = [0u8; 8];
+    let mut f = fs::File::open(path).ok()?;
+    let n = f.read(&mut buf).ok()?;
+    let b = &buf[..n];
+    if b.starts_with(&[0x37, 0x7a, 0xbc, 0xaf, 0x27, 0x1c]) {
+        return Some(".7z");
+    }
+    if b.starts_with(b"PK\x03\x04") || b.starts_with(b"PK\x05\x06") {
+        return Some(".zip");
+    }
+    if b.starts_with(b"Rar!\x1a\x07\x00") || b.starts_with(b"Rar!\x1a\x07\x01\x00") {
+        return Some(".rar");
+    }
+    None
+}
+
 /// Archive name with all archive suffixes stripped: the unit folder name.
 pub fn display_unit(name: &str) -> String {
     let mut cur = name;
@@ -342,7 +363,13 @@ impl Extractor {
         };
         let name = file_name_string(archive);
         let sfx = archive_suffixes(&name);
-        let res: Result<(), String> = match sfx.last().map(|s| s.as_str()) {
+        // Container formats: trust the magic bytes over the extension (python's
+        // 7z CLI sniffs content too). Compressed streams (.gz/.bz2/.xz) and tar
+        // stay extension-driven, where the tar-inside logic needs the name.
+        let kind: Option<String> = sniff_container(archive)
+            .map(str::to_string)
+            .or_else(|| sfx.last().cloned());
+        let res: Result<(), String> = match kind.as_deref() {
             Some(".7z") => extract_7z(archive, &actual),
             Some(".zip") => extract_zip(archive, &actual),
             Some(".rar") => extract_rar(archive, &actual),
@@ -967,6 +994,58 @@ mod tests {
             .collect()
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn sniff_container_reads_magic_not_extension() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        // real zip content, .rar name -> sniffed as zip
+        let z = dir.path().join("x.rar");
+        write_zip(&z, &[("a.txt", b"hi".to_vec())]);
+        assert_eq!(sniff_container(&z), Some(".zip"));
+
+        // 7z magic, .zip name
+        let seven = dir.path().join("y.zip");
+        fs::write(&seven, [0x37u8, 0x7a, 0xbc, 0xaf, 0x27, 0x1c, 0, 4]).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(sniff_container(&seven), Some(".7z"));
+
+        // rar5 magic
+        let rar = dir.path().join("z.7z");
+        fs::write(&rar, b"Rar!\x1a\x07\x01\x00").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(sniff_container(&rar), Some(".rar"));
+
+        // gzip is not a container: extension keeps driving it
+        let gz = dir.path().join("g.gz");
+        fs::write(&gz, [0x1f, 0x8b, 0x08]).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(sniff_container(&gz), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mislabeled_zip_extracts_via_sniffing() {
+        // /tmp is a small tmpfs; the free-space guard needs a real fs
+        let dir = test_base().join(format!("dlp-mislabel-{}", std::process::id()));
+        let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
+        let src = dir.join("src");
+        let out = dir.join("out");
+        fs::create_dir_all(&src).unwrap();
+        // a real zip with a .rar extension: python's 7z CLI would extract it too
+        write_zip(
+            &src.join("Pack.rar"),
+            &[("unit/part.txt", b"payload".to_vec())],
+        );
+        let extractor = Extractor {
+            out_root: out.clone(),
+        };
+        extractor.run(&[src.clone()]).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            fs::read_to_string(out.join("src/Pack/unit/part.txt")).unwrap(),
+            "payload"
+        );
+        let broken_empty = fs::read_dir(out.join(".broken"))
+            .map(|d| d.count() == 0)
+            .unwrap_or(true);
+        assert!(broken_empty, "nothing should be quarantined");
+        let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&dir);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn run_extracts_nests_quarantines_and_mirrors() {
         let (_c, src, out) = build_fixtures();