diff --git a/backend/open_webui/env.py b/backend/open_webui/env.py
index b3eca9856..cd0136a5c 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/env.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/env.py
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ CHANGELOG = changelog_json
 
 SAFE_MODE = os.environ.get("SAFE_MODE", "false").lower() == "true"
 
+
 ####################################
 # ENABLE_FORWARD_USER_INFO_HEADERS
 ####################################
@@ -394,6 +395,10 @@ WEBUI_AUTH_COOKIE_SECURE = (
 if WEBUI_AUTH and WEBUI_SECRET_KEY == "":
     raise ValueError(ERROR_MESSAGES.ENV_VAR_NOT_FOUND)
 
+ENABLE_COMPRESSION_MIDDLEWARE = (
+    os.environ.get("ENABLE_COMPRESSION_MIDDLEWARE", "True").lower() == "true"
+)
+
 ENABLE_WEBSOCKET_SUPPORT = (
     os.environ.get("ENABLE_WEBSOCKET_SUPPORT", "True").lower() == "true"
 )
diff --git a/backend/open_webui/main.py b/backend/open_webui/main.py
index 544756a6e..8e37d9e53 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/main.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/main.py
@@ -411,6 +411,7 @@ from open_webui.env import (
     WEBUI_AUTH_TRUSTED_EMAIL_HEADER,
     WEBUI_AUTH_TRUSTED_NAME_HEADER,
     WEBUI_AUTH_SIGNOUT_REDIRECT_URL,
+    ENABLE_COMPRESSION_MIDDLEWARE,
     ENABLE_WEBSOCKET_SUPPORT,
     BYPASS_MODEL_ACCESS_CONTROL,
     RESET_CONFIG_ON_START,
@@ -1072,7 +1073,9 @@ class RedirectMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
 
 
 # Add the middleware to the app
-app.add_middleware(CompressMiddleware)
+if ENABLE_COMPRESSION_MIDDLEWARE:
+    app.add_middleware(CompressMiddleware)
+
 app.add_middleware(RedirectMiddleware)
 app.add_middleware(SecurityHeadersMiddleware)