diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 91f62859..c9faf8db 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -300,6 +300,13 @@ ifeq ($(PERF_DEFINED), 1)
 CFLAGS += -DPERF
 endif
 
+ZLIB_INSTALLED := $(shell if (printf "$(pound)include <zlib.h>\n void main(){deflateInit(NULL, Z_BEST_COMPRESSION);}" | $(CC) -o /dev/null -x c - -lz >/dev/null 2>&1) ; then echo 1; else echo 0 ; fi)
+ifeq ($(ZLIB_INSTALLED), 1)
+export ZLIB_INSTALLED
+CFLAGS += -DHAVE_ZLIB
+$(info    Have zlib compression support)
+endif
+
 CUNIT_INSTALLED := $(shell if (printf "$(pound)include <CUnit/Basic.h>\n void main(){CU_initialize_registry();}" | $(CC) -o /dev/null -x c - -lcunit >/dev/null 2>&1) ; then echo 1; else echo 0 ; fi)
 export CUNIT_INSTALLED
 
diff --git a/lib/trace-cmd/Makefile b/lib/trace-cmd/Makefile
index bab4322d..1ee6ac4c 100644
--- a/lib/trace-cmd/Makefile
+++ b/lib/trace-cmd/Makefile
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ OBJS += trace-timesync-ptp.o
 OBJS += trace-timesync-kvm.o
 endif
 OBJS += trace-compress.o
+ifeq ($(ZLIB_INSTALLED), 1)
+OBJS += trace-compress-zlib.o
+endif
 
 # Additional util objects
 OBJS += trace-blk-hack.o
@@ -47,6 +50,10 @@ $(LIBTRACECMD_STATIC): $(OBJS)
 
 LIBS = $(LIBTRACEEVENT_LDLAGS) $(LIBTRACEFS_LDLAGS) -lpthread
 
+ifeq ($(ZLIB_INSTALLED), 1)
+LIBS += -lz
+endif
+
 $(LIBTRACECMD_SHARED_VERSION): $(LIBTRACECMD_SHARED)
 	@ln -sf $(<F) $@
 
diff --git a/lib/trace-cmd/include/trace-cmd-local.h b/lib/trace-cmd/include/trace-cmd-local.h
index 14223a08..9ab33553 100644
--- a/lib/trace-cmd/include/trace-cmd-local.h
+++ b/lib/trace-cmd/include/trace-cmd-local.h
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ void tracecmd_info(const char *fmt, ...);
 #endif
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_ZLIB
+int tracecmd_zlib_init(void);
+#endif
+
 struct data_file_write {
 	unsigned long long	file_size;
 	unsigned long long	write_size;
diff --git a/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress-zlib.c b/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress-zlib.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a697cc61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress-zlib.c
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2021, VMware, Tzvetomir Stoyanov tz.stoyanov@gmail.com>
+ *
+ */
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <dlfcn.h>
+#include <zlib.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#include "trace-cmd-private.h"
+
+#define __ZLIB_NAME		"zlib"
+#define __ZLIB_WEIGTH		10
+
+static int zlib_compress(const char *in, unsigned int in_bytes,
+			 char *out, unsigned int *out_bytes)
+{
+	unsigned long out_size = *out_bytes;
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = compress2((unsigned char *)out, &out_size,
+			(unsigned char *)in, (unsigned long)in_bytes, Z_BEST_COMPRESSION);
+	*out_bytes = out_size;
+	errno = 0;
+	switch (ret) {
+	case Z_OK:
+		return 0;
+	case Z_BUF_ERROR:
+		errno = -ENOBUFS;
+		break;
+	case Z_MEM_ERROR:
+		errno = -ENOMEM;
+		break;
+	case Z_STREAM_ERROR:
+		errno = -EINVAL;
+		break;
+	default:
+		errno = -EFAULT;
+		break;
+	}
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static int zlib_decompress(const char *in, unsigned int in_bytes,
+			   char *out, unsigned int *out_bytes)
+{
+	unsigned long out_size = *out_bytes;
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = uncompress((unsigned char *)out, &out_size,
+			 (unsigned char *)in, (unsigned long)in_bytes);
+	*out_bytes = out_size;
+	errno = 0;
+	switch (ret) {
+	case Z_OK:
+		return 0;
+	case Z_BUF_ERROR:
+		errno = -ENOBUFS;
+		break;
+	case Z_MEM_ERROR:
+		errno = -ENOMEM;
+		break;
+	case Z_DATA_ERROR:
+		errno = -EINVAL;
+		break;
+	default:
+		errno = -EFAULT;
+		break;
+	}
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static unsigned int zlib_compress_bound(unsigned int in_bytes)
+{
+	return compressBound(in_bytes);
+}
+
+static bool zlib_is_supported(const char *name, const char *version)
+{
+	const char *zver;
+
+	if (!name)
+		return false;
+	if (strlen(name) != strlen(__ZLIB_NAME) || strcmp(name, __ZLIB_NAME))
+		return false;
+
+	if (!version)
+		return true;
+
+	zver = zlibVersion();
+	if (!zver)
+		return false;
+
+	/* Compare the major version number */
+	if (atoi(version) <= atoi(zver))
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+int tracecmd_zlib_init(void)
+{
+	return tracecmd_compress_proto_register(__ZLIB_NAME, zlibVersion(), __ZLIB_WEIGTH,
+						zlib_compress, zlib_decompress,
+						zlib_compress_bound, zlib_is_supported);
+}
diff --git a/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress.c b/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress.c
index b198b8dc..c1f37cdf 100644
--- a/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress.c
+++ b/lib/trace-cmd/trace-compress.c
@@ -356,6 +356,9 @@ void tracecmd_compress_init(void)
 	gettimeofday(&time, NULL);
 	srand((time.tv_sec * 1000) + (time.tv_usec / 1000));
 
+#ifdef HAVE_ZLIB
+	tracecmd_zlib_init();
+#endif
 }
 
 static struct compress_proto *compress_proto_select(void)
diff --git a/tracecmd/Makefile b/tracecmd/Makefile
index 80c69bbb..b7a23dc4 100644
--- a/tracecmd/Makefile
+++ b/tracecmd/Makefile
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ CONFIG_INCLUDES =
 CONFIG_LIBS	= -lrt -lpthread $(TRACE_LIBS)
 CONFIG_FLAGS	=
 
+ifeq ($(ZLIB_INSTALLED), 1)
+CONFIG_LIBS += -lz
+endif
+
 all: $(TARGETS)
 
 $(bdir):
