diff --git a/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp b/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp
index e18da8e3f6..fe60238cd5 100644
--- a/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp
+++ b/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp
@@ -42,29 +42,10 @@ bool isBSA(const std::filesystem::path& filename)
     return hasExtension(filename, ".bsa") || hasExtension(filename, ".ba2");
 }
 
-std::unique_ptr<VFS::Archive> makeBsaArchive(const std::filesystem::path& path)
-{
-    switch (Bsa::BSAFile::detectVersion(path))
-    {
-        case Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED:
-            return std::make_unique<VFS::ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED>::type>(path);
-        case Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_GNRL:
-            return std::make_unique<VFS::ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_GNRL>::type>(path);
-        case Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_DX10:
-            return std::make_unique<VFS::ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_DX10>::type>(path);
-        case Bsa::BSAVER_UNCOMPRESSED:
-            return std::make_unique<VFS::ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_UNCOMPRESSED>::type>(path);
-        case Bsa::BSAVER_UNKNOWN:
-        default:
-            std::cerr << "'" << Files::pathToUnicodeString(path) << "' is not a recognized BSA archive" << std::endl;
-            return nullptr;
-    }
-}
-
 std::unique_ptr<VFS::Archive> makeArchive(const std::filesystem::path& path)
 {
     if (isBSA(path))
-        return makeBsaArchive(path);
+        return VFS::makeBsaArchive(path);
     if (std::filesystem::is_directory(path))
         return std::make_unique<VFS::FileSystemArchive>(path);
     return nullptr;
@@ -124,17 +105,23 @@ void readVFS(std::unique_ptr<VFS::Archive>&& archive, const std::filesystem::pat
 
     if (!archivePath.empty() && !isBSA(archivePath))
     {
-        Files::PathContainer dataDirs = { archivePath };
-        const Files::Collections fileCollections = Files::Collections(dataDirs);
+        const Files::Collections fileCollections({ archivePath });
         const Files::MultiDirCollection& bsaCol = fileCollections.getCollection(".bsa");
         const Files::MultiDirCollection& ba2Col = fileCollections.getCollection(".ba2");
-        for (auto& file : bsaCol)
+        for (const Files::MultiDirCollection& collection : { bsaCol, ba2Col })
         {
-            readVFS(makeBsaArchive(file.second), file.second, quiet);
-        }
-        for (auto& file : ba2Col)
-        {
-            readVFS(makeBsaArchive(file.second), file.second, quiet);
+            for (auto& file : collection)
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    readVFS(VFS::makeBsaArchive(file.second), file.second, quiet);
+                }
+                catch (const std::exception& e)
+                {
+                    std::cerr << "Failed to read archive file '" << Files::pathToUnicodeString(file.second)
+                              << "': " << e.what() << std::endl;
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp b/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp
index 2276933684..83a68a0589 100644
--- a/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 #include <components/bsa/compressedbsafile.hpp>
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <memory>
+#include <stdexcept>
 
 namespace VFS
 {
@@ -73,34 +75,24 @@ namespace VFS
         std::vector<VFS::Path::Normalized> mFiles;
     };
 
-    template <Bsa::BsaVersion>
-    struct ArchiveSelector
+    inline std::unique_ptr<VFS::Archive> makeBsaArchive(const std::filesystem::path& path)
     {
-    };
-
-    template <>
-    struct ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_UNCOMPRESSED>
-    {
-        using type = BsaArchive<Bsa::BSAFile>;
-    };
-
-    template <>
-    struct ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED>
-    {
-        using type = BsaArchive<Bsa::CompressedBSAFile>;
-    };
-
-    template <>
-    struct ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_GNRL>
-    {
-        using type = BsaArchive<Bsa::BA2GNRLFile>;
-    };
+        switch (Bsa::BSAFile::detectVersion(path))
+        {
+            case Bsa::BSAVER_UNKNOWN:
+                break;
+            case Bsa::BSAVER_UNCOMPRESSED:
+                return std::make_unique<BsaArchive<Bsa::BSAFile>>(path);
+            case Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED:
+                return std::make_unique<BsaArchive<Bsa::CompressedBSAFile>>(path);
+            case Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_GNRL:
+                return std::make_unique<BsaArchive<Bsa::BA2GNRLFile>>(path);
+            case Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_DX10:
+                return std::make_unique<BsaArchive<Bsa::BA2DX10File>>(path);
+        }
 
-    template <>
-    struct ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_DX10>
-    {
-        using type = BsaArchive<Bsa::BA2DX10File>;
-    };
+        throw std::runtime_error("Unknown archive type '" + Files::pathToUnicodeString(path) + "'");
+    }
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp b/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp
index 9dbe878bca..f017b5f73c 100644
--- a/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp
+++ b/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp
@@ -25,18 +25,7 @@ namespace VFS
                 // Last BSA has the highest priority
                 const auto archivePath = collections.getPath(*archive);
                 Log(Debug::Info) << "Adding BSA archive " << archivePath;
-                Bsa::BsaVersion bsaVersion = Bsa::BSAFile::detectVersion(archivePath);
-
-                if (bsaVersion == Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED)
-                    vfs->addArchive(std::make_unique<ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED>::type>(archivePath));
-                else if (bsaVersion == Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_GNRL)
-                    vfs->addArchive(std::make_unique<ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_GNRL>::type>(archivePath));
-                else if (bsaVersion == Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_DX10)
-                    vfs->addArchive(std::make_unique<ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_BA2_DX10>::type>(archivePath));
-                else if (bsaVersion == Bsa::BSAVER_UNCOMPRESSED)
-                    vfs->addArchive(std::make_unique<ArchiveSelector<Bsa::BSAVER_UNCOMPRESSED>::type>(archivePath));
-                else
-                    throw std::runtime_error("Unknown archive type '" + *archive + "'");
+                vfs->addArchive(makeBsaArchive(archivePath));
             }
             else
             {