diff --git a/lib/functions.zsh b/lib/functions.zsh
index 4246f8811..914f2ef25 100644
--- a/lib/functions.zsh
+++ b/lib/functions.zsh
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ function take() {
 }
 
 function extract() {
+    unset REMOVE_ARCHIVE
+    
+    if test "$1" = "-r"; then
+        REMOVE=1
+        shift
+    fi
   if [[ -f $1 ]]; then
     case $1 in
       *.tar.bz2) tar xvjf $1;;
@@ -56,7 +62,14 @@ function extract() {
       *.7z) 7z x $1;;
       *) echo "'$1' cannot be extracted via >extract<";;
     esac
+
+    if [[ $REMOVE_ARCHIVE -eq 1 ]]; then
+        echo removing "$1";
+        /bin/rm "$1";
+    fi
+
   else
     echo "'$1' is not a valid file"
   fi
 }
+