diff --git a/docs/livecd-creator.pod b/docs/livecd-creator.pod
index 880ae19..e80a119 100644
--- a/docs/livecd-creator.pod
+++ b/docs/livecd-creator.pod
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ Defines the file system label. The default is based on the configuration name.
 
 =item --compression-type=COMPRESSOR
 
-Specify a compressor recognized by mksquashfs. The default is zlib. lzma
-currently requires a custom kernel to produce a functional image. If zlib
+Specify a compressor recognized by mksquashfs. The default is gzip. lzma
+currently requires a custom kernel to produce a functional image. If gzip
 is used, the -comp option is not passed to mksquashfs to allow the use of
 older versions of mksquashfs.
 
diff --git a/imgcreate/fs.py b/imgcreate/fs.py
index c5cd18b..554d1b9 100644
--- a/imgcreate/fs.py
+++ b/imgcreate/fs.py
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ def makedirs(dirname):
             raise
 
 def mksquashfs(in_img, out_img, compress_type):
-# Allow zlib to work for older versions of mksquashfs
-    if compress_type == "zlib":
+# Allow gzip to work for older versions of mksquashfs
+    if compress_type == "gzip":
         args = ["/sbin/mksquashfs", in_img, out_img]
     else:
         args = ["/sbin/mksquashfs", in_img, out_img, "-comp", compress_type]
diff --git a/imgcreate/live.py b/imgcreate/live.py
index 36fef63..f349a1f 100644
--- a/imgcreate/live.py
+++ b/imgcreate/live.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class LiveImageCreatorBase(LoopImageCreator):
         """
         LoopImageCreator.__init__(self, *args)
 
-        self.compress_type = "zlib"
+        self.compress_type = "gzip"
         """mksquashfs compressor to use."""
 
         self.skip_compression = False
diff --git a/tools/livecd-creator b/tools/livecd-creator
index 79fc944..d1727c5 100755
--- a/tools/livecd-creator
+++ b/tools/livecd-creator
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ def parse_options(args):
     imgopt.add_option("-f", "--fslabel", type="string", dest="fs_label",
                       help="File system label (default based on config name)")
     imgopt.add_option("", "--compression-type", type="string", dest="compress_type",
-                      help="Compression type recognized by mksquashfs (default zlib, lzma needs custom kernel)",
-                      default="zlib")
+                      help="Compression type recognized by mksquashfs (default gzip, lzma needs custom kernel)",
+                      default="gzip")
     parser.add_option_group(imgopt)
 
     # options related to the config of your system