diff --git a/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/FileResourceBundle.java b/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/FileResourceBundle.java
index cf035bd9..157f4726 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/FileResourceBundle.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/FileResourceBundle.java
@@ -60,12 +60,31 @@ public class FileResourceBundle extends ResourceBundle
      * @param source a file object that references our source jar file.
      * @param delay if true, the bundle will wait until someone calls {@link #sourceIsReady}
      * before allowing access to its resources.
-     * @param unpack if true the bundle will unpack itself into a temporary directory
+     * @param unpackFully if true the bundle will unpack itself fully.
      */
-    public FileResourceBundle (File source, boolean delay, boolean unpack)
+    public FileResourceBundle (File source, boolean delay, boolean unpackFully)
+    {
+        this(source, delay, unpackFully, true);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Constructs a resource bundle with the supplied jar file.
+     *
+     * @param source a file object that references our source jar file.
+     * @param delay if true, the bundle will wait until someone calls {@link #sourceIsReady}
+     * before allowing access to its resources.
+     * @param unpackFully if true the bundle will unpack itself fully.
+     * @param unpackEntries if true and unpackFully is false, individual entries will be
+     * unpacked into a temporary directory as needed (as opposed to being read directly from
+     * the jar file).
+     */
+    public FileResourceBundle (
+        File source, boolean delay, boolean unpackFully, boolean unpackEntries)
     {
         _source = source;
-        if (unpack) {
+        _unpackEntries = unpackEntries;
+
+        if (unpackFully) {
             String root = stripSuffix(source.getPath());
             _unpacked = new File(root + ".stamp");
             _cache = new File(root);
@@ -86,17 +105,25 @@ public class FileResourceBundle extends ResourceBundle
     public InputStream getResource (String path)
         throws IOException
     {
-        // unpack our resources into a temp directory so that we can load
-        // them quickly and the file system can cache them sensibly
-        File rfile = getResourceFile(path);
-        return (rfile == null) ? null : new FileInputStream(rfile);
+        // if specified, unpack our resources into a temp directory so that
+        // we can load them quickly and the file system can cache them sensibly
+        if (_unpackEntries) {
+            File rfile = getResourceFile(path);
+            return (rfile == null) ? null : new FileInputStream(rfile);
+        }
+        if (_jarSource == null && resolveJarFile()) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        JarEntry entry = _jarSource.getJarEntry(path);
+        return (entry == null) ? null : _jarSource.getInputStream(entry);
     }
 
     @Override
     public BufferedImage getImageResource (String path, boolean useFastIO)
         throws IOException
     {
-        return ResourceManager.loadImage(getResourceFile(path), useFastIO);
+        return _unpackEntries ? ResourceManager.loadImage(getResourceFile(path), useFastIO) :
+            ResourceManager.loadImage(getResource(path), useFastIO);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -400,6 +427,9 @@ public class FileResourceBundle extends ResourceBundle
     /** The jar file from which we load resources. */
     protected JarFile _jarSource;
 
+    /** Whether or not to unpack individual entries as needed from the jar file. */
+    protected boolean _unpackEntries;
+
     /** A directory in which we temporarily unpack our resource files. */
     protected static File _tmpdir;
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java b/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java
index b234b71a..b1a7653c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/threerings/resource/ResourceManager.java
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ public class ResourceManager
         // check a system property to determine if we should unpack our bundles, but don't freak
         // out if we fail to read it
         try {
-            _unpack = !Boolean.getBoolean("no_unpack_resources");
+            _unpackFully = !Boolean.getBoolean("no_unpack_resources");
         } catch (SecurityException se) {
             // no problem, we're in a sandbox so we definitely won't be unpacking
         }
@@ -263,7 +263,16 @@ public class ResourceManager
      */
     public void setUnpackResources (boolean unpackResources)
     {
-        _unpack = unpackResources;
+        _unpackFully = unpackResources;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Configures whether we unpack individual jar entries as opposed to reading them directly from
+     * the jar.
+     */
+    public void setUnpackEntries (boolean unpackEntries)
+    {
+        _unpackEntries = unpackEntries;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -440,7 +449,8 @@ public class ResourceManager
     public boolean checkBundle (String path)
     {
         File bfile = getResourceFile(path);
-        return (bfile == null) ? false : new FileResourceBundle(bfile, true, _unpack).isUnpacked();
+        return (bfile == null) ? false : new FileResourceBundle(
+            bfile, true, _unpackFully, _unpackEntries).isUnpacked();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -459,7 +469,8 @@ public class ResourceManager
             return;
         }
 
-        final FileResourceBundle bundle = new FileResourceBundle(bfile, true, _unpack);
+        final FileResourceBundle bundle = new FileResourceBundle(
+            bfile, true, _unpackFully, _unpackEntries);
         if (bundle.isUnpacked()) {
             if (bundle.sourceIsReady()) {
                 listener.requestCompleted(bundle);
@@ -812,7 +823,8 @@ public class ResourceManager
     {
         if (setType.equals(FILE_SET_TYPE)) {
             FileResourceBundle bundle =
-                createFileResourceBundle(getResourceFile(path), true, _unpack);
+                createFileResourceBundle(getResourceFile(path),
+                    true, _unpackFully, _unpackEntries);
             if (!bundle.isUnpacked() || !bundle.sourceIsReady()) {
                 dlist.add(bundle);
             }
@@ -828,9 +840,9 @@ public class ResourceManager
      * Creates an appropriate bundle for fetching resources from files.
      */
     protected FileResourceBundle createFileResourceBundle (File source, boolean delay,
-        boolean unpack)
+        boolean unpackFully, boolean unpackEntries)
     {
-        return new FileResourceBundle(source, delay, unpack);
+        return new FileResourceBundle(source, delay, unpackFully, unpackEntries);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -1066,8 +1078,11 @@ public class ResourceManager
     /** The root path we give to network bundles for all resources they're interested in. */
     protected String _networkRootPath;
 
-    /** Whether or not to unpack our resource bundles. */
-    protected boolean _unpack;
+    /** Whether or not to unpack our resource bundles fully. */
+    protected boolean _unpackFully;
+
+    /** Whether or not to unpack individual jar entries. */
+    protected boolean _unpackEntries = true;
 
     /** Our default resource set. */
     protected ResourceBundle[] _default = new ResourceBundle[0];