diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 36263d8833..68dc7abb43 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 package sarama
 
 import (
+	"compress/gzip"
 	"crypto/tls"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"regexp"
 	"time"
 
@@ -414,6 +417,12 @@ func (c *Config) Validate() error {
 		return ConfigurationError("lz4 compression requires Version >= V0_10_0_0")
 	}
 
+	if c.Producer.Compression == CompressionGZIP {
+		if _, err := gzip.NewWriterLevel(ioutil.Discard, c.Producer.CompressionLevel); err != nil {
+			return ConfigurationError(fmt.Sprintf("gzip compression does not work with level %d: %v", c.Producer.CompressionLevel, err))
+		}
+	}
+
 	// validate the Consumer values
 	switch {
 	case c.Consumer.Fetch.Min <= 0: