diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 71ecf7b..62121b8 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub backpressure: usize,
     #[serde(default = "default_validate_token")]
     pub validate_token: bool,
+    #[serde(default = "default_allow_compression")]
+    pub allow_compression: bool,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub twilight_http_proxy: Option<String>,
     pub externally_accessible_url: String,
@@ -209,6 +211,10 @@ const fn default_validate_token() -> bool {
     true
 }
 
+const fn default_allow_compression() -> bool {
+    true
+}
+
 pub enum Error {
     InvalidConfig(JsonError),
     NotFound(String),
diff --git a/src/server.rs b/src/server.rs
index d667905..ac2e256 100644
--- a/src/server.rs
+++ b/src/server.rs
@@ -271,11 +271,16 @@ pub async fn handle_client<S: 'static + AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin + Send>(
 
                 trace!("[{addr}] Shard ID is {shard_id}");
 
-                // Create a new session for this client
-                let session = Session {
-                    shard_id,
-                    compress: identify.d.compress,
+                let compress = {
+                    if CONFIG.allow_compression {
+                        identify.d.compress
+                    } else {
+                        Some(false)
+                    }
                 };
+
+                // Create a new session for this client
+                let session = Session { shard_id, compress };
                 let session_id = state.create_session(session);
 
                 // The client is connected to this shard, so prepare for sending commands to it
@@ -291,7 +296,7 @@ pub async fn handle_client<S: 'static + AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin + Send>(
                         0,
                     )));
 
-                    let _res = sender.send(identify.d.compress);
+                    let _res = sender.send(compress);
                 }
             }
             6 => {
diff --git a/src/upgrade.rs b/src/upgrade.rs
index 527be15..b69baa0 100644
--- a/src/upgrade.rs
+++ b/src/upgrade.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use tracing::error;
 
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
 
-use crate::{server::handle_client, state::State};
+use crate::{config::CONFIG, server::handle_client, state::State};
 
 /// Websocket GUID constant as specified in RFC6455:
 /// <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6455#section-1.3>
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ pub fn server(
 
     // Track whether the client requested zlib encoding in the query
     // string parameters
-    let use_zlib = query.map_or(false, |q| q.contains("compress=zlib-stream"));
+    let use_zlib =
+        CONFIG.allow_compression && query.map_or(false, |q| q.contains("compress=zlib-stream"));
 
     let mut response = Response::new(Full::default());