diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 90fe8dec..29a8c094 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - [#422](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/422) - Adds support for normalization of read depth with BBNorm (added by @erikrikarddaniel and @fabianegli)
 - [#439](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/439) - Adds ability to enter the pipeline at the binning stage by providing a CSV of pre-computed assemblies (by @prototaxites)
 - [#459](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/459) - Adds ability to skip damage correction step in the ancient DNA workflow and just run pyDamage (by @jfy133)
-- [#364](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/364) - Added geNomad nf-core modules for identifying viruses in assemblies (by @PhilPalmer and @CarsonJM)
+- [#364](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/364) - Adds geNomad nf-core modules for identifying viruses in assemblies (by @PhilPalmer and @CarsonJM)
 - [#481](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/481) - Adds MetaEuk for annotation of eukaryotic MAGs, and MMSeqs2 to enable downloading databases for MetaEuk (by @prototaxites)
+- [#437](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/429) - `--gtdb_db` also now supports directory input of an pre-uncompressed GTDB archive directory (reported by @alneberg, fix by @jfy133)
 
 ### `Changed`
 
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - [#442](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/442) - Remove warning when BUSCO finds no genes in bins, as this can be expected in some datasets (reported by @Lumimar, fix by @jfy133).
 - [#444](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/444) - Moved BUSCO bash code to script (by @jfy133)
 - [#428](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/429) - Update to nf-core 2.9 `TEMPLATE` (by @jfy133)
+- [#437](https://github.com/nf-core/mag/pull/429) - `--gtdb` parameter is split into `--skip_gtdbtk` and `--gtdb_db` to allow finer control over GTDB database retrieval (fix by @jfy133)
 
 ### `Fixed`
 
diff --git a/conf/test.config b/conf/test.config
index 2b846218..348b95d5 100644
--- a/conf/test.config
+++ b/conf/test.config
@@ -28,6 +28,6 @@ params {
     max_unbinned_contigs          = 2
     busco_reference               = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
     busco_clean                   = true
-    gtdb                          = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                   = true
     skip_concoct                  = true
 }
diff --git a/conf/test_adapterremoval.config b/conf/test_adapterremoval.config
index 956ca7e0..92d51aec 100644
--- a/conf/test_adapterremoval.config
+++ b/conf/test_adapterremoval.config
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ params {
     min_length_unbinned_contigs = 1
     max_unbinned_contigs        = 2
     busco_reference             = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
-    gtdb                        = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                 = true
     clip_tool                   = 'adapterremoval'
     skip_concoct                = true
     bin_domain_classification   = true
diff --git a/conf/test_ancient_dna.config b/conf/test_ancient_dna.config
index dcb8f7c9..325362fc 100644
--- a/conf/test_ancient_dna.config
+++ b/conf/test_ancient_dna.config
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ params {
     min_length_unbinned_contigs          = 1
     max_unbinned_contigs                 = 2
     busco_reference                      = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
-    gtdb                                 = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                          = true
     ancient_dna                          = true
     binning_map_mode                     = 'own'
     skip_spades                          = false
diff --git a/conf/test_bbnorm.config b/conf/test_bbnorm.config
index e081aa4e..5f481adf 100644
--- a/conf/test_bbnorm.config
+++ b/conf/test_bbnorm.config
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ params {
     max_unbinned_contigs          = 2
     busco_reference               = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
     busco_clean                   = true
-    gtdb                          = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                   = true
     bbnorm                        = true
     coassemble_group              = true
 }
diff --git a/conf/test_binrefinement.config b/conf/test_binrefinement.config
index 72da28c5..f4ec132f 100644
--- a/conf/test_binrefinement.config
+++ b/conf/test_binrefinement.config
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ params {
     min_length_unbinned_contigs   = 1
     max_unbinned_contigs          = 2
     busco_reference               = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
-    gtdb                          = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                   = true
     refine_bins_dastool           = true
     refine_bins_dastool_threshold = 0
     postbinning_input             = 'both'
diff --git a/conf/test_busco_auto.config b/conf/test_busco_auto.config
index 9480575c..6479012f 100644
--- a/conf/test_busco_auto.config
+++ b/conf/test_busco_auto.config
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ params {
     skip_spades                 = true
     min_length_unbinned_contigs = 1
     max_unbinned_contigs        = 2
-    gtdb                        = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                 = true
     skip_prokka                 = true
     skip_prodigal               = true
     skip_quast                  = true
diff --git a/conf/test_full.config b/conf/test_full.config
index 0e755192..4917332e 100644
--- a/conf/test_full.config
+++ b/conf/test_full.config
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ params {
     centrifuge_db = "s3://ngi-igenomes/test-data/mag/p_compressed+h+v.tar.gz"
     kraken2_db    = "s3://ngi-igenomes/test-data/mag/minikraken_8GB_202003.tgz"
     cat_db        = "s3://ngi-igenomes/test-data/mag/CAT_prepare_20210107.tar.gz"
-    gtdb          = "s3://ngi-igenomes/test-data/mag/gtdbtk_r202_data.tar.gz"
+    gtdb_db       = "s3://ngi-igenomes/test-data/mag/gtdbtk_r202_data.tar.gz"
 
     // reproducibility options for assembly
     spades_fix_cpus       = 10
diff --git a/conf/test_host_rm.config b/conf/test_host_rm.config
index f91ef48c..b3487c6b 100644
--- a/conf/test_host_rm.config
+++ b/conf/test_host_rm.config
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@ params {
     min_length_unbinned_contigs = 1
     max_unbinned_contigs        = 2
     busco_reference             = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
-    gtdb                        = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                 = true
     skip_concoct                = true
 }
diff --git a/conf/test_hybrid.config b/conf/test_hybrid.config
index 8cf5e525..bc22d3d2 100644
--- a/conf/test_hybrid.config
+++ b/conf/test_hybrid.config
@@ -24,6 +24,6 @@ params {
     min_length_unbinned_contigs = 1
     max_unbinned_contigs        = 2
     busco_reference             = "https://busco-data.ezlab.org/v5/data/lineages/bacteria_odb10.2020-03-06.tar.gz"
-    gtdb                        = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                   = true
     skip_concoct                = true
 }
diff --git a/conf/test_hybrid_host_rm.config b/conf/test_hybrid_host_rm.config
index 8a37b813..7a0e4a15 100644
--- a/conf/test_hybrid_host_rm.config
+++ b/conf/test_hybrid_host_rm.config
@@ -26,4 +26,5 @@ params {
     max_unbinned_contigs        = 2
     skip_binqc                  = true
     skip_concoct                = true
+    skip_gtdbtk                 = true
 }
diff --git a/conf/test_nothing.config b/conf/test_nothing.config
index d22582e3..53df219f 100644
--- a/conf/test_nothing.config
+++ b/conf/test_nothing.config
@@ -38,6 +38,6 @@ params {
     skip_concoct                  = true
     skip_prokka                   = true
     skip_binqc                    = true
-    gtdb                          = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                   = true
     skip_concoct                  = true
 }
diff --git a/conf/test_virus_identification.config b/conf/test_virus_identification.config
index 7709a523..e15fab7d 100644
--- a/conf/test_virus_identification.config
+++ b/conf/test_virus_identification.config
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ params {
     // For computational efficiency
     reads_minlength             = 150
     coassemble_group            = true
-    gtdb                        = false
+    skip_gtdbtk                 = true
     skip_binning                = true
     skip_prokka                 = true
     skip_spades                 = true
diff --git a/lib/WorkflowMag.groovy b/lib/WorkflowMag.groovy
index ebe07a0a..51822e4e 100755
--- a/lib/WorkflowMag.groovy
+++ b/lib/WorkflowMag.groovy
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ class WorkflowMag {
             Nextflow.error('Both --busco_auto_lineage_prok and --busco_reference are specified! Invalid combination, please specify either --busco_auto_lineage_prok or --busco_reference.')
         }
 
-        if (params.skip_binqc && params.gtdb) {
-            log.warn '--skip_binqc and --gtdb are specified! GTDB-tk will be omitted because GTDB-tk bin classification requires bin filtering based on BUSCO or CheckM QC results to avoid GTDB-tk errors.'
+        if (params.skip_binqc && !params.skip_gtdbtk) {
+            log.warn '--skip_binqc is specified, but --skip_gtdbtk is explictly set to run! GTDB-tk will be omitted because GTDB-tk bin classification requires bin filtering based on BUSCO or CheckM QC results to avoid GTDB-tk errors.'
         }
 
         // Check if CAT parameters are valid
diff --git a/modules/local/gtdbtk_db_preparation.nf b/modules/local/gtdbtk_db_preparation.nf
index 5c4a991e..6c987a32 100644
--- a/modules/local/gtdbtk_db_preparation.nf
+++ b/modules/local/gtdbtk_db_preparation.nf
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ process GTDBTK_DB_PREPARATION {
     path(database)
 
     output:
-    tuple val("${database.toString().replace(".tar.gz", "")}"), path("database/*")
+    tuple val("${database.toString().replace(".tar.gz", "")}"), path("database/*"), emit: db
 
     script:
     """
diff --git a/nextflow.config b/nextflow.config
index bb8e3de4..1846bc76 100644
--- a/nextflow.config
+++ b/nextflow.config
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ params {
     cat_db_generate                      = false
     cat_official_taxonomy                = false
     save_cat_db                          = false
-    gtdb                                 = "https://data.ace.uq.edu.au/public/gtdb/data/releases/release202/202.0/auxillary_files/gtdbtk_r202_data.tar.gz"
+    skip_gtdbtk                          = false
+    gtdb_db                              = "https://data.ace.uq.edu.au/public/gtdb/data/releases/release214/214.1/auxillary_files/gtdbtk_r214_data.tar.gz"
     gtdbtk_min_completeness              = 50.0
     gtdbtk_max_contamination             = 10.0
     gtdbtk_min_perc_aa                   = 10
diff --git a/nextflow_schema.json b/nextflow_schema.json
index 03b1992a..dcff2298 100644
--- a/nextflow_schema.json
+++ b/nextflow_schema.json
@@ -511,11 +511,15 @@
                     "type": "boolean",
                     "description": "Only return official taxonomic ranks (Kingdom, Phylum, etc.) when running CAT."
                 },
-                "gtdb": {
+                "skip_gtdbtk": {
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "description": "Skip the running of GTDB, as well as the automatic download of the database",
+                    "default": "false"
+                },
+                "gtdb_db": {
                     "type": "string",
-                    "default": "https://data.gtdb.ecogenomic.org/releases/release202/202.0/auxillary_files/gtdbtk_r202_data.tar.gz",
-                    "description": "GTDB database for taxonomic classification of bins with GTDB-tk.",
-                    "help_text": "For information which GTDB reference databases are compatible with the used GTDB-tk version see https://ecogenomics.github.io/GTDBTk/installing/index.html#gtdb-tk-reference-data."
+                    "description": "Specify the location of a GTDBTK database. Can be either an uncompressed directory or a `.tar.gz` archive. If not specified will be downloaded for you when GTDBTK or binning QC is not skipped.",
+                    "default": "https://data.ace.uq.edu.au/public/gtdb/data/releases/release214/214.1/auxillary_files/gtdbtk_r214_data.tar.gz"
                 },
                 "gtdbtk_min_completeness": {
                     "type": "number",
diff --git a/subworkflows/local/binning.nf b/subworkflows/local/binning.nf
index 5796de42..aa9a4a9b 100644
--- a/subworkflows/local/binning.nf
+++ b/subworkflows/local/binning.nf
@@ -130,9 +130,9 @@ workflow BINNING {
     ch_versions = ch_versions.mix(GUNZIP_UNBINS.out.versions.first())
 
     emit:
-    bins                                         = ch_binning_results_gunzipped.dump(tag: "ch_binning_results_gunzipped")
+    bins                                         = ch_binning_results_gunzipped
     bins_gz                                      = ch_binning_results_gzipped_final
-    unbinned                                     = ch_splitfasta_results_gunzipped.dump(tag: "ch_splitfasta_results_gunzipped")
+    unbinned                                     = ch_splitfasta_results_gunzipped
     unbinned_gz                                  = SPLIT_FASTA.out.unbinned
     metabat2depths                               = METABAT2_JGISUMMARIZEBAMCONTIGDEPTHS.out.depth
     versions                                     = ch_versions
diff --git a/subworkflows/local/gtdbtk.nf b/subworkflows/local/gtdbtk.nf
index ecbb1d40..21823962 100644
--- a/subworkflows/local/gtdbtk.nf
+++ b/subworkflows/local/gtdbtk.nf
@@ -59,10 +59,24 @@ workflow GTDBTK {
                 return [it[0], it[1]]
         }
 
-    GTDBTK_DB_PREPARATION ( gtdb )
+    if ( gtdb.extension == 'gz' ) {
+        // Expects to be tar.gz!
+        ch_db_for_gtdbtk = GTDBTK_DB_PREPARATION ( gtdb ).db
+    } else if ( gtdb.isDirectory() ) {
+        // Make up meta id to match expected channel cardinality for GTDBTK
+        ch_db_for_gtdbtk = Channel
+                            .of(gtdb)
+                            .map{
+                                [ it.toString().split('/').last(), it ]
+                            }
+                            .collect()
+    } else {
+        error("Unsupported object given to --gtdb, database must be supplied as either a directory or a .tar.gz file!")
+    }
+
     GTDBTK_CLASSIFYWF (
         ch_filtered_bins.passed.groupTuple(),
-        GTDBTK_DB_PREPARATION.out
+        ch_db_for_gtdbtk
     )
 
     GTDBTK_SUMMARY (
diff --git a/workflows/mag.nf b/workflows/mag.nf
index d74ada0e..62797405 100644
--- a/workflows/mag.nf
+++ b/workflows/mag.nf
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ log.info logo + paramsSummaryLog(workflow) + citation
 WorkflowMag.initialise(params, log, hybrid)
 
 // Check input path parameters to see if they exist
-def checkPathParamList = [ params.input, params.multiqc_config, params.phix_reference, params.host_fasta, params.centrifuge_db, params.kraken2_db, params.cat_db, params.gtdb, params.lambda_reference, params.busco_reference ]
+def checkPathParamList = [ params.input, params.multiqc_config, params.phix_reference, params.host_fasta, params.centrifuge_db, params.kraken2_db, params.cat_db, params.gtdb_db, params.lambda_reference, params.busco_reference ]
 for (param in checkPathParamList) { if (param) { file(param, checkIfExists: true) } }
 
 /*
@@ -205,13 +205,12 @@ if (params.genomad_db){
     ch_genomad_db = Channel.empty()
 }
 
-gtdb = params.skip_binqc ? false : params.gtdb
+gtdb = ( params.skip_binqc || params.skip_gtdbtk ) ? false : params.gtdb_db
 
 if (gtdb) {
-    ch_gtdb = Channel
-        .value(file( "${gtdb}" ))
+    gtdb = file( "${gtdb}", checkIfExists: true)
 } else {
-    ch_gtdb = Channel.empty()
+    gtdb = []
 }
 
 if(params.metaeuk_db && !params.skip_metaeuk) {
@@ -720,12 +719,12 @@ workflow MAG {
 
 
         } else {
-            ch_binning_results_bins = BINNING.out.bins.dump(tag: 'BINNING.out.bins')
+            ch_binning_results_bins = BINNING.out.bins
                 .map { meta, bins ->
                     def meta_new = meta + [domain: 'unclassified']
                     [meta_new, bins]
                 }
-            ch_binning_results_unbins = BINNING.out.unbinned.dump(tag: 'BINNING.out.unbins')
+            ch_binning_results_unbins = BINNING.out.unbinned
                 .map { meta, bins ->
                     def meta_new = meta + [domain: 'unclassified']
                     [meta_new, bins]
@@ -877,25 +876,31 @@ workflow MAG {
         /*
          * GTDB-tk: taxonomic classifications using GTDB reference
          */
-        ch_gtdbtk_summary = Channel.empty()
-        if ( gtdb ){
 
-            ch_gtdb_bins = ch_input_for_postbinning_bins_unbins
-                .filter { meta, bins ->
-                    meta.domain != "eukarya"
-                }
+        if ( !params.skip_gtdbtk ) {
 
-            GTDBTK (
-                ch_gtdb_bins,
-                ch_busco_summary,
-                ch_checkm_summary,
-                ch_gtdb
-            )
-            ch_versions = ch_versions.mix(GTDBTK.out.versions.first())
-            ch_gtdbtk_summary = GTDBTK.out.summary
+            ch_gtdbtk_summary = Channel.empty()
+            if ( gtdb ){
+
+                ch_gtdb_bins = ch_input_for_postbinning_bins_unbins
+                    .filter { meta, bins ->
+                        meta.domain != "eukarya"
+                    }
+
+                GTDBTK (
+                    ch_gtdb_bins,
+                    ch_busco_summary,
+                    ch_checkm_summary,
+                    gtdb
+                )
+                ch_versions = ch_versions.mix(GTDBTK.out.versions.first())
+                ch_gtdbtk_summary = GTDBTK.out.summary
+            }
+        } else {
+            ch_gtdbtk_summary = Channel.empty()
         }
 
-        if ( ( !params.skip_binqc ) || !params.skip_quast || gtdb){
+        if ( ( !params.skip_binqc ) || !params.skip_quast || !params.skip_gtdbtk){
             BIN_SUMMARY (
                 ch_input_for_binsummary,
                 ch_busco_summary.ifEmpty([]),