diff --git a/distribution/archives/build.gradle b/distribution/archives/build.gradle
index 9fa06021236a2..2fbe5a308dc04 100644
--- a/distribution/archives/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/archives/build.gradle
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
  */
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.condition.Os
-import org.apache.tools.ant.filters.FixCrLfFilter
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.BuildPlugin
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.EmptyDirTask
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.LoggedExec
@@ -57,13 +56,6 @@ CopySpec archiveFiles(CopySpec modulesFiles, String distributionType, boolean os
       }
       into('bin') {
         with binFiles(distributionType, oss)
-        with copySpec {
-          from('../src/bin') {
-            include '*.bat'
-            filter(FixCrLfFilter, eol: FixCrLfFilter.CrLf.newInstance('crlf'))
-          }
-          MavenFilteringHack.filter(it, expansionsForDistribution(distributionType, oss))
-        }
       }
       into('') {
         from {
@@ -86,9 +78,6 @@ CopySpec archiveFiles(CopySpec modulesFiles, String distributionType, boolean os
       }
 
       with noticeFile
-      from('../src') {
-        include 'bin/*.exe'
-      }
       into('modules') {
         with modulesFiles
       }
diff --git a/distribution/build.gradle b/distribution/build.gradle
index 266cb8f8b270a..f9e20523d8758 100644
--- a/distribution/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/build.gradle
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.gradle.ConcatFilesTask
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.MavenFilteringHack
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.NoticeTask
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RunTask
+import org.apache.tools.ant.filters.FixCrLfFilter
 
 import java.nio.file.Path
 
@@ -279,15 +280,28 @@ configure(subprojects.findAll { ['archives', 'packages'].contains(it.name) }) {
 
     binFiles = { distributionType, oss ->
       copySpec {
+        // non-windows files, for all distributions 
         with copySpec {
-          // main bin files, processed with distribution specific substitutions
-          // everything except windows files
           from '../src/bin'
           exclude '*.exe'
           exclude '*.bat'
           eachFile { it.setMode(0755) }
           MavenFilteringHack.filter(it, expansionsForDistribution(distributionType, oss))
         }
+        // windows files, only for zip
+        if (distributionType == 'zip') {
+          with copySpec {
+            from '../src/bin'
+            include '*.bat'
+            filter(FixCrLfFilter, eol: FixCrLfFilter.CrLf.newInstance('crlf'))
+            MavenFilteringHack.filter(it, expansionsForDistribution(distributionType, oss))
+          }
+          with copySpec {
+            from '../src/bin'
+            include '*.exe'
+          }
+        }
+        // module provided bin files
         with copySpec {
           eachFile { it.setMode(0755) }
           if (oss) {
@@ -295,6 +309,9 @@ configure(subprojects.findAll { ['archives', 'packages'].contains(it.name) }) {
           } else {
             from project(':distribution').buildDefaultBin
           }
+          if (distributionType != 'zip') {
+            exclude '*.bat'
+          }
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_7_0/packaging.asciidoc b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_7_0/packaging.asciidoc
index 4070d6807332d..934522db7162f 100644
--- a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_7_0/packaging.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_7_0/packaging.asciidoc
@@ -8,3 +8,8 @@ The systemd service file `/usr/lib/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service`
 was previously marked as a configuration file in rpm and deb packages.
 Overrides to the systemd elasticsearch service should be made
 in `/etc/systemd/system/elasticsearch.service.d/override.conf`.
+
+==== tar package no longer includes windows specific files
+
+The tar package previously included files in the `bin` directory meant only
+for windows. These files have been removed. Use the `zip` package instead.
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/utils/xpack.bash b/x-pack/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/utils/xpack.bash
index 95ab2a08d3e57..3bea4adf1a4c6 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/utils/xpack.bash
+++ b/x-pack/qa/vagrant/src/test/resources/packaging/utils/xpack.bash
@@ -15,30 +15,18 @@ verify_xpack_installation() {
     #assert_file "$ESHOME/bin" d $user $group 755
     local binaryFiles=(
         'elasticsearch-certgen'
-        'elasticsearch-certgen.bat'
         'elasticsearch-certutil'
-        'elasticsearch-certutil.bat'
         'elasticsearch-croneval'
-        'elasticsearch-croneval.bat'
         'elasticsearch-migrate'
-        'elasticsearch-migrate.bat'
         'elasticsearch-saml-metadata'
-        'elasticsearch-saml-metadata.bat'	
         'elasticsearch-setup-passwords'
-        'elasticsearch-setup-passwords.bat'
         'elasticsearch-sql-cli'
-        'elasticsearch-sql-cli.bat'
         "elasticsearch-sql-cli-$(cat version).jar" # This jar is executable so we pitch it in bin so folks will find it
         'elasticsearch-syskeygen'
-        'elasticsearch-syskeygen.bat'
         'elasticsearch-users'
-        'elasticsearch-users.bat'
         'x-pack-env'
-        'x-pack-env.bat'
         'x-pack-security-env'
-        'x-pack-security-env.bat'
         'x-pack-watcher-env'
-        'x-pack-watcher-env.bat'
     )
 
     local binaryFilesCount=5 # start with oss distro number