diff --git a/main/cmd/pack/desc.c b/main/cmd/pack/desc.c
index 97bbaaa..71f534c 100644
--- a/main/cmd/pack/desc.c
+++ b/main/cmd/pack/desc.c
@@ -58,13 +58,62 @@ static int handle_name(input_file_t *f, void *obj)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int handle_toc_compressor(input_file_t *f, void *obj)
+{
+	pkg_desc_t *desc = obj;
+
+	desc->toccmp = compressor_by_name(f->line);
+
+	if (desc->toccmp == NULL) {
+		input_file_complain(f, "unkown compressor");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int handle_data_compressor(input_file_t *f, void *obj)
+{
+	pkg_desc_t *desc = obj;
+
+	desc->datacmp = compressor_by_name(f->line);
+
+	if (desc->datacmp == NULL) {
+		input_file_complain(f, "unkown compressor");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static const keyword_handler_t line_hooks[] = {
+	{ "toc-compressor", handle_toc_compressor },
+	{ "data-compressor", handle_data_compressor },
 	{ "requires", handle_requires },
 	{ "name", handle_name },
 };
 
 #define NUM_LINE_HOOKS (sizeof(line_hooks) / sizeof(line_hooks[0]))
 
+static compressor_t *get_default_compressor(void)
+{
+	compressor_t *cmp;
+
+	cmp = compressor_by_id(PKG_COMPRESSION_LZMA);
+	if (cmp != NULL)
+		return cmp;
+
+	cmp = compressor_by_id(PKG_COMPRESSION_ZLIB);
+	if (cmp != NULL)
+		return cmp;
+
+	cmp = compressor_by_id(PKG_COMPRESSION_NONE);
+	if (cmp != NULL)
+		return cmp;
+
+	return cmp;
+}
+
 int desc_read(const char *path, pkg_desc_t *desc)
 {
 	input_file_t f;
@@ -80,6 +129,19 @@ int desc_read(const char *path, pkg_desc_t *desc)
 	}
 
 	cleanup_file(&f);
+
+	if (desc->datacmp == NULL)
+		desc->datacmp = get_default_compressor();
+
+	if (desc->toccmp == NULL)
+		desc->toccmp = get_default_compressor();
+
+	if (desc->datacmp == NULL || desc->toccmp == NULL) {
+		fputs("no compressor implementations available\n", stderr);
+		desc_free(desc);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/main/cmd/pack/pack.c b/main/cmd/pack/pack.c
index cfa07f0..1b57042 100644
--- a/main/cmd/pack/pack.c
+++ b/main/cmd/pack/pack.c
@@ -1,44 +1,13 @@
 #include "pack.h"
 
 static const struct option long_opts[] = {
-	{ "toc-compressor", required_argument, NULL, 't' },
-	{ "file-compressor", required_argument, NULL, 'f' },
 	{ "description", required_argument, NULL, 'd' },
 	{ "file-list", required_argument, NULL, 'l' },
 	{ "repo-dir", required_argument, NULL, 'r' },
 	{ NULL, 0, NULL, 0 },
 };
 
-static const char *short_opts = "t:f:l:r:d:";
-
-static compressor_t *get_default_compressor(void)
-{
-	compressor_t *cmp;
-
-	cmp = compressor_by_id(PKG_COMPRESSION_LZMA);
-	if (cmp != NULL)
-		return cmp;
-
-	cmp = compressor_by_id(PKG_COMPRESSION_ZLIB);
-	if (cmp != NULL)
-		return cmp;
-
-	cmp = compressor_by_id(PKG_COMPRESSION_NONE);
-	if (cmp != NULL)
-		return cmp;
-
-	return cmp;
-}
-
-static compressor_t *try_get_compressor(const char *name)
-{
-	compressor_t *cmp = compressor_by_name(name);
-
-	if (cmp == NULL)
-		fprintf(stderr, "unkown compressor: %s\n", name);
-
-	return cmp;
-}
+static const char *short_opts = "l:r:d:";
 
 static pkg_writer_t *open_writer(pkg_desc_t *desc, const char *repodir)
 {
@@ -56,36 +25,17 @@ static pkg_writer_t *open_writer(pkg_desc_t *desc, const char *repodir)
 static int cmd_pack(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	const char *filelist = NULL, *repodir = NULL, *descfile = NULL;
-	compressor_t *cmp_toc, *cmp_files;
 	image_entry_t *list = NULL;
 	pkg_writer_t *wr;
 	pkg_desc_t desc;
 	int i;
 
-	cmp_toc = get_default_compressor();
-	cmp_files = cmp_toc;
-
-	if (cmp_toc == NULL) {
-		fputs("no compressor implementations available\n", stderr);
-		return EXIT_FAILURE;
-	}
-
 	for (;;) {
 		i = getopt_long(argc, argv, short_opts, long_opts, NULL);
 		if (i == -1)
 			break;
 
 		switch (i) {
-		case 't':
-			cmp_toc = try_get_compressor(optarg);
-			if (cmp_toc == NULL)
-				return EXIT_FAILURE;
-			break;
-		case 'f':
-			cmp_files = try_get_compressor(optarg);
-			if (cmp_files == NULL)
-				return EXIT_FAILURE;
-			break;
 		case 'l':
 			filelist = optarg;
 			break;
@@ -130,10 +80,10 @@ static int cmd_pack(int argc, char **argv)
 		goto fail;
 
 	if (list != NULL) {
-		if (write_toc(wr, list, cmp_toc))
+		if (write_toc(wr, list, desc.toccmp))
 			goto fail;
 
-		if (write_files(wr, list, cmp_files))
+		if (write_files(wr, list, desc.datacmp))
 			goto fail;
 	}
 
@@ -163,11 +113,7 @@ static command_t pack = {
 "  --description, -d <path> Specify a file containing a description of the\n"
 "                           package, including information such as package\n"
 "                           dependencies, the actual package name, etc.\n"
-"\n"
-"  --toc-compressor, -t <compressor>\n"
-"  --file-compressor, -f <compressor>\n"
-"      Specify what compressor to use for compressing the table of contents,\n"
-"      or for compressing files respectively.\n",
+"\n",
 	.run_cmd = cmd_pack,
 };
 
diff --git a/main/cmd/pack/pack.h b/main/cmd/pack/pack.h
index 0fb3526..ace3407 100644
--- a/main/cmd/pack/pack.h
+++ b/main/cmd/pack/pack.h
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ typedef struct dependency_t {
 } dependency_t;
 
 typedef struct {
+	compressor_t *datacmp;
+	compressor_t *toccmp;
 	dependency_t *deps;
 	char *name;
 } pkg_desc_t;