diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoverySource.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoverySource.java
index 9fe026a7fc0..d1356624014 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoverySource.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/recovery/RecoverySource.java
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ public class RecoverySource extends AbstractComponent {
 
     private final ByteSizeValue fileChunkSize;
 
+    private final boolean compress;
+
     @Inject public RecoverySource(Settings settings, ThreadPool threadPool, TransportService transportService, IndicesService indicesService,
                                   RecoveryThrottler recoveryThrottler) {
         super(settings);
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ public class RecoverySource extends AbstractComponent {
         this.recoveryThrottler = recoveryThrottler;
 
         this.fileChunkSize = componentSettings.getAsBytesSize("file_chunk_size", new ByteSizeValue(100, ByteSizeUnit.KB));
+        this.compress = componentSettings.getAsBoolean("compress", true);
 
         transportService.registerHandler(Actions.START_RECOVERY, new StartRecoveryTransportRequestHandler());
     }
@@ -165,7 +168,7 @@ public class RecoverySource extends AbstractComponent {
                                             long position = indexInput.getFilePointer();
                                             indexInput.readBytes(buf, 0, toRead, false);
                                             transportService.submitRequest(request.targetNode(), RecoveryTarget.Actions.FILE_CHUNK, new RecoveryFileChunkRequest(request.shardId(), name, position, len, buf, toRead),
-                                                    TransportRequestOptions.options().withCompress(), VoidTransportResponseHandler.INSTANCE).txGet();
+                                                    TransportRequestOptions.options().withCompress(compress), VoidTransportResponseHandler.INSTANCE).txGet();
                                             readCount += toRead;
                                         }
                                         indexInput.close();
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportRequestOptions.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportRequestOptions.java
index 4ca6c380a74..a21813bdf21 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportRequestOptions.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/TransportRequestOptions.java
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ public class TransportRequestOptions {
         return this;
     }
 
-    public TransportRequestOptions withCompress() {
-        this.compress = true;
+    public TransportRequestOptions withCompress(boolean compress) {
+        this.compress = compress;
         return this;
     }
 
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
index 69746c70128..0ddc47828f8 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/netty/NettyTransport.java
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ public class NettyTransport extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<Transport> implem
         Channel targetChannel = nodeChannel(node);
 
         if (compress) {
-            options.withCompress();
+            options.withCompress(true);
         }
 
         byte[] data = TransportStreams.buildRequest(requestId, action, message, options);
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTests.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTests.java
index e9617b31e66..68e147c7acd 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTests.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/transport/AbstractSimpleTransportTests.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractSimpleTransportTests {
         });
 
         TransportFuture<StringMessage> res = serviceB.submitRequest(serviceANode, "sayHello",
-                new StringMessage("moshe"), TransportRequestOptions.options().withCompress(), new BaseTransportResponseHandler<StringMessage>() {
+                new StringMessage("moshe"), TransportRequestOptions.options().withCompress(true), new BaseTransportResponseHandler<StringMessage>() {
                     @Override public StringMessage newInstance() {
                         return new StringMessage();
                     }