diff --git a/contrib/PKGBUILD.vim b/contrib/PKGBUILD.vim
index bf4b2ee5..179f40bf 100644
--- a/contrib/PKGBUILD.vim
+++ b/contrib/PKGBUILD.vim
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ hi def link pbValidSha1sums  Number
 
 " options
 syn keyword pb_k_options options contained
-syn match pbOptions /\(no\)\?\(strip\|docs\|libtool\|emptydirs\|ccache\|distcc\|makeflags\|force\)/ contained
+syn match pbOptions /\(no\)\?\(strip\|docs\|libtool\|emptydirs\|zipman\|ccache\|distcc\|makeflags\|force\)/ contained
 syn match   pbOptionsNeg     /\!/ contained
 syn match   pbOptionsDeprec  /no/ contained
 syn region pbOptionsGroup start=/^options=(/ end=/)/ contains=pb_k_options,pbOptions,pbOptionsNeg,pbOptionsDeprec,pbIllegalOption,shDoubleQuote,shSingleQuote
diff --git a/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt b/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt
index ac394729..aa870097 100644
--- a/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt
+++ b/doc/PKGBUILD.5.txt
@@ -182,6 +182,9 @@ Options and Directives
 	*emptydirs*;;
 		Leave empty directories in packages.
 
+	*zipman*;;
+		Compress man pages with gzip.
+
 	*ccache*;;
 		Allow the use of ccache during build. More useful in its negative
 		form `!ccache` with select packages that have problems building
diff --git a/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt b/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt
index 3f6d74c4..113ad140 100644
--- a/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt
+++ b/doc/makepkg.conf.5.txt
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ Options
 	running in the DistCC cluster. In addition, you will want to modify your
 	`MAKEFLAGS`.
 
-**OPTIONS=(**strip !docs libtool emptydirs**)**::
-	This array contains options that affect the default packaging. All four are
+**OPTIONS=(**strip !docs libtool emptydirs zipman**)**::
+	This array contains options that affect the default packaging. They are
 	equivalent to options that can be placed in the PKGBUILD; the defaults are
 	shown here. All options should always be left in the array; to enable or
 	disable an option simply remove or place an ``!'' at the front of the
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ Options
 	*emptydirs*;;
 		Leave empty directories in packages.
 
+	*zipman*;;
+		Compress man pages with gzip.
+
 **INTEGRITY_CHECK=(**check1 ...**)**::
 	File integrity checks to use. Multiple checks may be specified; this
 	affects both generation and checking. The current valid options are:
diff --git a/etc/makepkg.conf.in b/etc/makepkg.conf.in
index a034b516..345194d3 100644
--- a/etc/makepkg.conf.in
+++ b/etc/makepkg.conf.in
@@ -58,15 +58,16 @@ BUILDENV=(fakeroot !distcc color !ccache !xdelta)
 #   These are default values for the options=() settings
 #########################################################################
 #
-# Default: OPTIONS=(strip !docs libtool emptydirs)
+# Default: OPTIONS=(strip !docs libtool emptydirs zipman)
 #  A negated option will do the opposite of the comments below.
 #
 #-- strip:     Strip symbols from binaries/libraries
 #-- docs:      Save doc and info directories
 #-- libtool:   Leave libtool (.la) files in packages
 #-- emptydirs: Leave empty directories in packages
+#-- zipman:    Compress manpages with gzip
 #
-OPTIONS=(strip !docs libtool emptydirs)
+OPTIONS=(strip !docs libtool emptydirs zipman)
 
 #-- File integrity checks to use. Valid: md5, sha1, sha256, sha384, sha512
 INTEGRITY_CHECK=(md5)
diff --git a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
index f2f7109b..1eb3d3a7 100644
--- a/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
+++ b/scripts/makepkg.sh.in
@@ -733,37 +733,41 @@ tidy_install() {
 		rm -rf ${DOC_DIRS[@]}
 	fi
 
-	msg2 "$(gettext "Compressing man pages...")"
-	local manpage mandirs ext file link hardlinks hl
-	mandirs="usr/man usr/share/man usr/local/man usr/local/share/man opt/*/man"
-	find ${mandirs} -type f 2>/dev/null | while read manpage ; do
-		# check file still exists (potentially compressed with hard link)
-		if [ -f ${manpage} ]; then
-			ext="${manpage##*.}"
-			file="${manpage##*/}"
-			if [ "$ext" != "gz" -a "$ext" != "bz2" ]; then
-				# update symlinks to this manpage
-				find ${mandirs} -lname "$file" 2>/dev/null | while read link ; do
-					rm -f "$link"
-					ln -sf "${file}.gz" "${link}.gz"
-				done
-				# find hard links and remove them
-				#   the '|| true' part keeps the script from bailing if find returned an
-				#   error, such as when one of the man directories doesn't exist
-				hardlinks="$(find ${mandirs} \! -name "$file" -samefile "$manpage" 2>/dev/null)" || true
-				for hl in ${hardlinks}; do
-					rm -f "${hl}";
-				done
-				# compress the original
-				gzip -9 "$manpage"
-				# recreate hard links removed earlier
-				for hl in ${hardlinks}; do
-					ln "${manpage}.gz" "${hl}.gz"
-					chmod 644 ${hl}.gz
-				done
+	if [ "$(check_option zipman)" = "y" ]; then
+		msg2 "$(gettext "Compressing man pages...")"
+		local manpage mandirs ext file link hardlinks hl
+		mandirs="usr/man usr/share/man usr/local/man usr/local/share/man opt/*/man"
+		find ${mandirs} -type f 2>/dev/null |
+		while read manpage ; do
+			# check file still exists (potentially compressed with hard link)
+			if [ -f ${manpage} ]; then
+				ext="${manpage##*.}"
+				file="${manpage##*/}"
+				if [ "$ext" != "gz" -a "$ext" != "bz2" ]; then
+					# update symlinks to this manpage
+					find ${mandirs} -lname "$file" 2>/dev/null |
+					while read link ; do
+						rm -f "$link"
+						ln -sf "${file}.gz" "${link}.gz"
+					done
+					# find hard links and remove them
+					#   the '|| true' part keeps the script from bailing if find returned an
+					#   error, such as when one of the man directories doesn't exist
+					hardlinks="$(find ${mandirs} \! -name "$file" -samefile "$manpage" 2>/dev/null)" || true
+					for hl in ${hardlinks}; do
+						rm -f "${hl}";
+					done
+					# compress the original
+					gzip -9 "$manpage"
+					# recreate hard links removed earlier
+					for hl in ${hardlinks}; do
+						ln "${manpage}.gz" "${hl}.gz"
+						chmod 644 ${hl}.gz
+					done
+				fi
 			fi
-		fi
-	done
+		done
+	fi
 
 
 	if [ "$(check_option strip)" = "y" ]; then