diff --git a/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/CoderSpec.scala b/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/CoderSpec.scala
index 844789e56b..466570a777 100644
--- a/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/CoderSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/CoderSpec.scala
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ abstract class CoderSpec(codecName: String) extends WordSpec with CodecSpecSuppo
 
   lazy val corruptContent = {
     val content = encode(largeText).toArray
-    content(14) = 26.toByte
+    content(14) = 36.toByte
     ByteString(content)
   }
 
diff --git a/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/GzipWithCustomCompressionLevelSpec.scala b/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/GzipWithCustomCompressionLevelSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..31ab69e0b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-stream-tests/src/test/scala/akka/stream/io/compression/GzipWithCustomCompressionLevelSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2017 Lightbend Inc. <http://www.lightbend.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.stream.io.compression
+
+import java.util.zip.{ Deflater, ZipException }
+
+import akka.stream.impl.io.compression.{ Compressor, GzipCompressor }
+import akka.stream.scaladsl.{ Compression, Flow }
+import akka.util.ByteString
+
+class GzipWithCustomCompressionLevelSpec extends GzipSpec {
+
+  import CompressionTestingTools._
+
+  override protected def newCompressor(): Compressor =
+    new GzipCompressor(Deflater.BEST_SPEED)
+
+  override protected val encoderFlow: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, Any] =
+    Compression.gzip(Deflater.BEST_SPEED)
+
+  override def extraTests(): Unit = {
+    "decode concatenated compressions" in {
+      ourDecode(Seq(encode("Hello, "), encode("dear "), encode("User!")).join) should readAs("Hello, dear User!")
+    }
+    "throw an error on truncated input" in {
+      val ex = the[RuntimeException] thrownBy ourDecode(streamEncode(smallTextBytes).dropRight(5))
+      ex.ultimateCause.getMessage should equal("Truncated GZIP stream")
+    }
+    "throw an error if compressed data is just missing the trailer at the end" in {
+      def brokenCompress(payload: String) = newCompressor().compress(ByteString(payload, "UTF-8"))
+      val ex = the[RuntimeException] thrownBy ourDecode(brokenCompress("abcdefghijkl"))
+      ex.ultimateCause.getMessage should equal("Truncated GZIP stream")
+    }
+    "throw early if header is corrupt" in {
+      val cause = (the[RuntimeException] thrownBy ourDecode(ByteString(0, 1, 2, 3, 4))).ultimateCause
+      cause should (be(a[ZipException]) and have message "Not in GZIP format")
+    }
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.6.backwards.excludes b/akka-stream/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.6.backwards.excludes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0077a82945
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/mima-filters/2.5.6.backwards.excludes
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.stream.impl.io.compression.GzipCompressor.this")
+ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("akka.stream.impl.io.compression.DeflateCompressor.this")
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/DeflateCompressor.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/DeflateCompressor.scala
index 91e5539cac..4a5f427588 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/DeflateCompressor.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/DeflateCompressor.scala
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ import akka.util.{ ByteString, ByteStringBuilder }
 import scala.annotation.tailrec
 
 /** INTERNAL API */
-@InternalApi private[akka] class DeflateCompressor extends Compressor {
+@InternalApi private[akka] class DeflateCompressor(level: Int = Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION, nowrap: Boolean = false) extends Compressor {
   import DeflateCompressor._
 
-  protected lazy val deflater = new Deflater(Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION, false)
+  protected lazy val deflater = new Deflater(level, nowrap)
 
   override final def compressAndFlush(input: ByteString): ByteString = {
     val buffer = newTempBuffer(input.size)
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/GzipCompressor.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/GzipCompressor.scala
index 27fb04711e..8e3e45ccad 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/GzipCompressor.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/io/compression/GzipCompressor.scala
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import akka.annotation.InternalApi
 import akka.util.ByteString
 
 /** INTERNAL API */
-@InternalApi private[akka] class GzipCompressor extends DeflateCompressor {
-  override protected lazy val deflater = new Deflater(Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION, true)
+@InternalApi private[akka] class GzipCompressor(compressionLevel: Int = Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION) extends DeflateCompressor(compressionLevel, true) {
+  override protected lazy val deflater = new Deflater(compressionLevel, true)
   private val checkSum = new CRC32 // CRC32 of uncompressed data
   private var headerSent = false
   private var bytesRead = 0L
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Compression.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Compression.scala
index af754bfc8c..760dbc6f50 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Compression.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Compression.scala
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ object Compression {
   def gzip: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
     scaladsl.Compression.gzip.asJava
 
+  /**
+   * Same as [[gzip]] with a custom level.
+   *
+   * @param level Compression level (0-9)
+   */
+  def gzip(level: Int): Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
+    scaladsl.Compression.gzip(level).asJava
+
   /**
    * Creates a flow that deflate-compresses a stream of ByteString. Note that the compressor
    * will SYNC_FLUSH after every [[ByteString]] so that it is guaranteed that every [[ByteString]]
@@ -41,4 +49,14 @@ object Compression {
    */
   def deflate: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
     scaladsl.Compression.deflate.asJava
+
+  /**
+   * Same as [[deflate]] with configurable level and nowrap
+   *
+   * @param level Compression level (0-9)
+   * @param nowrap if true then use GZIP compatible compression
+   */
+  def deflate(level: Int, nowrap: Boolean): Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
+    scaladsl.Compression.deflate(level, nowrap).asJava
+
 }
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Compression.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Compression.scala
index b2ff7389a1..2200d590de 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Compression.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Compression.scala
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
  */
 package akka.stream.scaladsl
 
+import java.util.zip.Deflater
+
 import akka.NotUsed
 import akka.stream.impl.io.compression._
 import akka.util.ByteString
@@ -16,10 +18,17 @@ object Compression {
    * coming out of the flow can be fully decompressed without waiting for additional data. This may
    * come at a compression performance cost for very small chunks.
    *
-   * FIXME: should compression level / strategy / flush mode be configurable? See https://github.com/akka/akka/issues/21849
+   * FIXME: should strategy / flush mode be configurable? See https://github.com/akka/akka/issues/21849
    */
-  def gzip: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
-    CompressionUtils.compressorFlow(() ⇒ new GzipCompressor)
+  def gzip: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] = gzip(Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION)
+
+  /**
+   * Same as [[gzip]] with a custom level.
+   *
+   * @param level Compression level (0-9)
+   */
+  def gzip(level: Int): Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
+    CompressionUtils.compressorFlow(() ⇒ new GzipCompressor(level))
 
   /**
    * Creates a Flow that decompresses a gzip-compressed stream of data.
@@ -36,10 +45,19 @@ object Compression {
    * coming out of the flow can be fully decompressed without waiting for additional data. This may
    * come at a compression performance cost for very small chunks.
    *
-   * FIXME: should compression level / strategy / flush mode be configurable? See https://github.com/akka/akka/issues/21849
+   * FIXME: should strategy / flush mode be configurable? See https://github.com/akka/akka/issues/21849
    */
-  def deflate: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
-    CompressionUtils.compressorFlow(() ⇒ new DeflateCompressor)
+  def deflate: Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] = deflate(Deflater.BEST_COMPRESSION, false)
+
+  /**
+   * Same as [[deflate]] with configurable level and nowrap
+   *
+   * @param level Compression level (0-9)
+   * @param nowrap if true then use GZIP compatible compression
+   *
+   */
+  def deflate(level: Int, nowrap: Boolean): Flow[ByteString, ByteString, NotUsed] =
+    CompressionUtils.compressorFlow(() ⇒ new DeflateCompressor(level, nowrap))
 
   /**
    * Creates a Flow that decompresses a deflate-compressed stream of data.