diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h b/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h
index 0c5fb0eb..cfd8a998 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
+/* It's what gzip does, 9 is too slow */
+#define OSTREE_ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL (6)
+
 /* This file contains private implementation data format definitions
  * read by multiple implementation .c files.
  */
@@ -143,4 +146,16 @@ _ostree_detached_metadata_append_gpg_sig (GVariant   *existing_metadata,
 GFile *
 _ostree_get_default_sysroot_path (void);
 
+_OSTREE_PUBLIC
+gboolean
+_ostree_raw_file_to_archive_stream (GInputStream       *input,
+                                    GFileInfo          *file_info,
+                                    GVariant           *xattrs,
+                                    guint               compression_level,
+                                    GInputStream      **out_input,
+                                    GCancellable       *cancellable,
+                                    GError            **error);
+
+
+
 G_END_DECLS
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-core.c b/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
index e3f0a771..af36d98b 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
@@ -453,6 +453,34 @@ header_and_input_to_stream (GVariant           *file_header,
   return TRUE;
 }
 
+gboolean
+_ostree_raw_file_to_archive_stream (GInputStream       *input,
+                                    GFileInfo          *file_info,
+                                    GVariant           *xattrs,
+                                    guint               compression_level,
+                                    GInputStream      **out_input,
+                                    GCancellable       *cancellable,
+                                    GError            **error)
+{
+  g_autoptr(GVariant) file_header = NULL;
+  g_autoptr(GInputStream) zlib_input = NULL;
+
+  file_header = _ostree_zlib_file_header_new (file_info, xattrs);
+  if (input != NULL)
+    {
+      g_autoptr(GConverter) zlib_compressor = NULL;
+
+      zlib_compressor = G_CONVERTER (g_zlib_compressor_new (G_ZLIB_COMPRESSOR_FORMAT_RAW, compression_level));
+      zlib_input = g_converter_input_stream_new (input, zlib_compressor);
+    }
+  return header_and_input_to_stream (file_header,
+                                     zlib_input,
+                                     out_input,
+                                     NULL,
+                                     cancellable,
+                                     error);
+}
+
 /**
  * ostree_raw_file_to_archive_z2_stream:
  * @input: File raw content stream
@@ -473,23 +501,9 @@ ostree_raw_file_to_archive_z2_stream (GInputStream       *input,
                                       GCancellable       *cancellable,
                                       GError            **error)
 {
-  g_autoptr(GVariant) file_header = NULL;
-  g_autoptr(GInputStream) zlib_input = NULL;
-
-  file_header = _ostree_zlib_file_header_new (file_info, xattrs);
-  if (input != NULL)
-    {
-      g_autoptr(GConverter) zlib_compressor = NULL;
-
-      zlib_compressor = G_CONVERTER (g_zlib_compressor_new (G_ZLIB_COMPRESSOR_FORMAT_RAW, 9));
-      zlib_input = g_converter_input_stream_new (input, zlib_compressor);
-    }
-  return header_and_input_to_stream (file_header,
-                                     zlib_input,
-                                     out_input,
-                                     NULL,
-                                     cancellable,
-                                     error);
+  return _ostree_raw_file_to_archive_stream (input, file_info, xattrs,
+                                             OSTREE_ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL,
+                                             out_input, cancellable, error);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
index eb9733e8..07940f48 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ write_object (OstreeRepo         *self,
 
           if (g_file_info_get_file_type (file_info) == G_FILE_TYPE_REGULAR)
             {
-              zlib_compressor = (GConverter*)g_zlib_compressor_new (G_ZLIB_COMPRESSOR_FORMAT_RAW, 9);
+              zlib_compressor = (GConverter*)g_zlib_compressor_new (G_ZLIB_COMPRESSOR_FORMAT_RAW, self->zlib_compression_level);
               compressed_out_stream = g_converter_output_stream_new (temp_out, zlib_compressor);
               /* Don't close the base; we'll do that later */
               g_filter_output_stream_set_close_base_stream ((GFilterOutputStream*)compressed_out_stream, FALSE);
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-private.h b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-private.h
index a4e59e44..cfc178f3 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-private.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-private.h
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ struct OstreeRepo {
   GError *writable_error;
   gboolean in_transaction;
   gboolean disable_fsync;
+  guint zlib_compression_level;
   GHashTable *loose_object_devino_hash;
   GHashTable *updated_uncompressed_dirs;
   GHashTable *object_sizes;
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
index fd49f0fc..4ac39d11 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
@@ -2083,6 +2083,19 @@ reload_core_config (OstreeRepo          *self,
     self->tmp_expiry_seconds = g_ascii_strtoull (tmp_expiry_seconds, NULL, 10);
   }
 
+  { g_autofree char *compression_level_str = NULL;
+
+    /* gzip defaults to 6 */
+    (void)ot_keyfile_get_value_with_default (self->config, "archive", "zlib-level", NULL,
+                                             &compression_level_str, NULL);
+
+    if (compression_level_str)
+      /* Ensure level is in [1,9] */
+      self->zlib_compression_level = MAX (1, MIN (9, g_ascii_strtoull (compression_level_str, NULL, 10)));
+    else
+      self->zlib_compression_level = OSTREE_ARCHIVE_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL;
+  }
+
   if (!ot_keyfile_get_value_with_default (self->config, "core", "parent",
                                           NULL, &parent_repo_path, error))
     return FALSE;