diff --git a/cmd/tar-split/asm.go b/cmd/tar-split/asm.go
index 7665f95..fb77df4 100644
--- a/cmd/tar-split/asm.go
+++ b/cmd/tar-split/asm.go
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@ func CommandAsm(c *cli.Context) {
 		outputStream = fh
 	}
 
+	if c.Bool("compress") {
+		zipper := gzip.NewWriter(outputStream)
+		defer zipper.Close()
+		outputStream = zipper
+	}
+
 	// Get the tar metadata reader
 	mf, err := os.Open(c.String("input"))
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/tar-split/main.go b/cmd/tar-split/main.go
index 5f039ab..37e0f64 100644
--- a/cmd/tar-split/main.go
+++ b/cmd/tar-split/main.go
@@ -69,6 +69,11 @@ func main() {
 					Value: "",
 					Usage: "relative path of extracted tar",
 				},
+				cli.BoolFlag{
+					Name:  "compress",
+					Usage: "gzip compress the output",
+					// defaults to false
+				},
 			},
 		},
 		{