diff --git a/internal/getproviders/filesystem_search.go b/internal/getproviders/filesystem_search.go
index ff10acf461..55857f4c13 100644
--- a/internal/getproviders/filesystem_search.go
+++ b/internal/getproviders/filesystem_search.go
@@ -204,3 +204,17 @@ func SearchLocalDirectory(baseDir string) (map[addrs.Provider]PackageMetaList, e
 	}
 	return ret, nil
 }
+
+// UnpackedDirectoryPathForPackage is similar to
+// PackageMeta.UnpackedDirectoryPath but makes its decision based on
+// individually-passed provider address, version, and target platform so that
+// it can be used by callers outside this package that may have other
+// types that represent package identifiers.
+func UnpackedDirectoryPathForPackage(baseDir string, provider addrs.Provider, version Version, platform Platform) string {
+	return filepath.ToSlash(filepath.Join(
+		baseDir,
+		provider.Hostname.ForDisplay(), provider.Namespace, provider.Type,
+		version.String(),
+		platform.String(),
+	))
+}
diff --git a/internal/getproviders/types.go b/internal/getproviders/types.go
index ac41b20e1d..c675cd0073 100644
--- a/internal/getproviders/types.go
+++ b/internal/getproviders/types.go
@@ -133,6 +133,17 @@ func (m PackageMeta) LessThan(other PackageMeta) bool {
 	}
 }
 
+// UnpackedDirectoryPath determines the path under the given base
+// directory where SearchLocalDirectory or the FilesystemMirrorSource would
+// expect to find an unpacked copy of the receiving PackageMeta.
+//
+// The result always uses forward slashes as path separator, even on Windows,
+// to produce a consistent result on all platforms. Windows accepts both
+// direction of slash as long as each individual path string is self-consistent.
+func (m PackageMeta) UnpackedDirectoryPath(baseDir string) string {
+	return UnpackedDirectoryPathForPackage(baseDir, m.Provider, m.Version, m.TargetPlatform)
+}
+
 // PackageLocation represents a location where a provider distribution package
 // can be obtained. A value of this type contains one of the following
 // concrete types: PackageLocalArchive, PackageLocalDir, or PackageHTTPURL.