diff --git a/lib/commands/pack.js b/lib/commands/pack.js
index 3918c77f8f53c..dfdaff49703d2 100644
--- a/lib/commands/pack.js
+++ b/lib/commands/pack.js
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ class Pack extends BaseCommand {
       const manifest = await pacote.manifest(spec, {
         ...options,
         ...(spec.type === 'directory' && { allowDirectory: 'all' }),
+        ...(spec.type === 'file' && { allowFile: 'all' }),
         Arborist,
         preferOnline: true,
         _isRoot: true,
diff --git a/lib/commands/publish.js b/lib/commands/publish.js
index a18b6f0c81bcc..f2c4a10124500 100644
--- a/lib/commands/publish.js
+++ b/lib/commands/publish.js
@@ -312,6 +312,7 @@ class Publish extends BaseCommand {
     } else {
       manifest = await pacote.manifest(spec, {
         ...opts,
+        ...(spec.type === 'file' && { allowFile: 'all' }),
         fullMetadata: true,
         fullReadJson: true,
       })
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/pack.js b/test/lib/commands/pack.js
index fa53c4da7853a..ea903e1bc2004 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/pack.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/pack.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ const t = require('tap')
 const { load: loadMockNpm } = require('../../fixtures/mock-npm')
 const { cleanZlib } = require('../../fixtures/clean-snapshot')
 const MockRegistry = require('@npmcli/mock-registry')
+const pacote = require('pacote')
+const Arborist = require('@npmcli/arborist')
 const path = require('node:path')
 const fs = require('node:fs')
 
@@ -131,6 +133,27 @@ for (const allowDirectory of ['none', 'root']) {
   })
 }
 
+for (const allowFile of ['none', 'root']) {
+  t.test(`dry run of a tarball with allow-file=${allowFile}`, async t => {
+    const { npm, outputs, prefix } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
+      prefixDir: {
+        'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+          name: 'test-package',
+          version: '1.0.0',
+        }),
+      },
+      config: {
+        'allow-file': allowFile,
+        'dry-run': true,
+      },
+    })
+    const tarFilename = path.join(prefix, 'tarball.tgz')
+    fs.writeFileSync(tarFilename, await pacote.tarball(prefix, { Arborist }))
+    await npm.exec('pack', [tarFilename])
+    t.strictSame(outputs, ['test-package-1.0.0.tgz'])
+  })
+}
+
 t.test('foreground-scripts defaults to true', async t => {
   const { npm, outputs, logs } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
     prefixDir: {
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/publish.js b/test/lib/commands/publish.js
index 9ddca285488a7..351b3dda28a35 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/publish.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/publish.js
@@ -353,6 +353,27 @@ t.test('tarball', async t => {
   t.matchSnapshot(joinedOutput(), 'new package json')
 })
 
+for (const allowFile of ['none', 'root']) {
+  t.test(`tarball with allow-file=${allowFile}`, async t => {
+    const { npm, joinedOutput, home, registry } = await loadNpmWithRegistry(t, {
+      config: {
+        'allow-file': allowFile,
+        'dry-run': true,
+        ...auth,
+      },
+      homeDir: {
+        'package.json': JSON.stringify(pkgJson, null, 2),
+      },
+      authorization: token,
+    })
+    const tarFilename = path.join(home, 'tarball.tgz')
+    fs.writeFileSync(tarFilename, await pacote.tarball(home, { Arborist }))
+    registry.publish(pkg, { noPut: true })
+    await npm.exec('publish', [tarFilename])
+    t.equal(joinedOutput(), `+ ${pkg}@1.0.0`)
+  })
+}
+
 t.test('no auth default registry', async t => {
   const { npm } = await loadNpmWithRegistry(t, {
     prefixDir: {
diff --git a/workspaces/libnpmpack/lib/index.js b/workspaces/libnpmpack/lib/index.js
index 8bf68e2a400e9..b9598ac90d8d3 100644
--- a/workspaces/libnpmpack/lib/index.js
+++ b/workspaces/libnpmpack/lib/index.js
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ async function pack (spec = 'file:.', opts = {}) {
   // gets spec
   spec = npa(spec)
 
-  // An explicit directory is the package being packed, not a dependency fetch.
+  // An explicit directory or tarball is the package being packed, not a dependency fetch.
   if (spec.type === 'directory') {
     opts = { ...opts, allowDirectory: 'all' }
+  } else if (spec.type === 'file') {
+    opts = { ...opts, allowFile: 'all' }
   }
 
   const manifest = await pacote.manifest(spec, { ...opts, Arborist, _isRoot: true })
diff --git a/workspaces/libnpmpack/test/index.js b/workspaces/libnpmpack/test/index.js
index c6518b09b6570..3e82fd526fcbb 100644
--- a/workspaces/libnpmpack/test/index.js
+++ b/workspaces/libnpmpack/test/index.js
@@ -50,6 +50,22 @@ for (const allowDirectory of ['none', 'root']) {
   })
 }
 
+for (const allowFile of ['none', 'root']) {
+  t.test(`packs an explicit local tarball with allow-file=${allowFile}`, async t => {
+    const testDir = t.testdir({
+      'package.json': JSON.stringify({
+        name: 'my-cool-pkg',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+      }, null, 2),
+    })
+    const tarFilename = path.join(testDir, 'my-cool-pkg-1.0.0.tgz')
+    fs.writeFileSync(tarFilename, await pack(testDir))
+
+    const tarball = await pack(tarFilename, { allowFile })
+    t.ok(tarball)
+  })
+}
+
 t.test('flattens path separators in name so tarball stays in packDestination', async t => {
   const testDir = t.testdir({
     src: {