diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
index 851f03ca81..c351084db3 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
@@ -1919,7 +1919,7 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 		}
 		AppendStringCommandOption(&buf, use_new_option_syntax,
 								  "COMPRESSION", compressmethodstr);
-		if (compresslevel != 0 && compresslevel != Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION)
+		if (compresslevel >= 1) /* not 0 or Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION */
 			AppendIntegerCommandOption(&buf, use_new_option_syntax,
 									   "COMPRESSION_LEVEL", compresslevel);
 	}