diff --git a/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt b/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt
index db1e6d53..5970946d 100644
--- a/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt
+++ b/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt
@@ -213,6 +213,10 @@ Options
 	This value is used when querying a package to see who was the builder.
 	It is recommended you change this to your name and email address.
 
+**COMPRESSGZ=**"(gzip -c -f -n)", **COMPRESSBZ2=**"(bzip2 -c -f)", **COMPRESSXZ=**"(xz -c -z -)", **COMPRESSZ=**"(compress -c -f)"::
+	Sets the command and options used when compressing compiled or source
+	packages in the named format.
+
 **PKGEXT=**".pkg.tar.gz", **SRCEXT=**".src.tar.gz"::
 	Sets the compression used when making compiled or source packages. The
 	current valid suffixes are `.tar`, `.tar.gz`, `.tar.bz2`, `.tar.xz`, and
diff --git a/etc/makepkg.conf.in b/etc/makepkg.conf.in
index e9152c8b..6c87ea4c 100644
--- a/etc/makepkg.conf.in
+++ b/etc/makepkg.conf.in
@@ -106,6 +106,16 @@ PURGE_TARGETS=(usr/{,share}/info/dir .packlist *.pod)
 #-- Specify a key to use for package signing
 #GPGKEY=""
 
+#########################################################################
+# COMPRESSION DEFAULTS
+#########################################################################
+#
+COMPRESSGZ=(gzip -c -f -n)
+COMPRESSBZ2=(bzip2 -c -f)
+COMPRESSXZ=(xz -c -z -)
+COMPRESSZ=(compress -c -f)
+
+
 #########################################################################
 # EXTENSION DEFAULTS
 #########################################################################
diff --git a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
index 6e7a5562..48f7f7ec 100644
--- a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
+++ b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
@@ -1294,10 +1294,10 @@ create_package() {
 	# Disable bsdtar compression and use gzip -n for now.
 	bsdtar -cf - $comp_files * |
 	case "$PKGEXT" in
-		*tar.gz)  gzip -c -f -n ;;
-		*tar.bz2) bzip2 -c -f ;;
-		*tar.xz)  xz -c -z - ;;
-		*tar.Z)   compress -c -f ;;
+		*tar.gz)  ${COMPRESSGZ[@]:-gzip -c -f -n} ;;
+		*tar.bz2) ${COMPRESSBZ2[@]:-bzip2 -c -f} ;;
+		*tar.xz)  ${COMPRESSXZ[@]:-xz -c -z -} ;;
+		*tar.Z)   ${COMPRESSZ[@]:-compress -c -f} ;;
 		*tar)     cat ;;
 		*) warning "$(gettext "'%s' is not a valid archive extension.")" \
 			"$PKGEXT"; cat ;;