diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8fcb6091a..525157b22 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   </parent>
 
   <artifactId>plexus-archiver</artifactId>
-  <version>3.5.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+  <version>3.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <name>Plexus Archiver Component</name>
 
   <scm>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/archiver/AbstractArchiver.java b/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/archiver/AbstractArchiver.java
index f88583d44..3fab3dd2a 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/archiver/AbstractArchiver.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/archiver/AbstractArchiver.java
@@ -1007,6 +1007,8 @@ public final void createArchive()
         {
             cleanUp();
         }
+
+        postCreateArchive();
     }
 
     protected boolean hasVirtualFiles()
@@ -1036,6 +1038,21 @@ protected void validate()
     {
     }
 
+    /**
+     * This method is called after the archive creation
+     * completes successfully (no exceptions are thrown).
+     *
+     * Subclasses may override this method in order to
+     * augment or validate the archive after it is
+     * created.
+     *
+     * @since 3.6
+     */
+    protected void postCreateArchive()
+        throws ArchiverException, IOException
+    {
+    }
+
     protected abstract String getArchiveType();
 
     private void addCloseable( Object maybeCloseable )