diff --git a/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward.rb b/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward.rb
index a3eb2d1870..acf49113e0 100644
--- a/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward.rb
+++ b/lib/fluent/plugin/out_forward.rb
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ def initialize
     desc 'Enable client-side DNS round robin.'
     config_param :dns_round_robin, :bool, default: false # heartbeat_type 'udp' is not available for this
 
+    desc 'Compress buffered data.'
+    config_param :compress, :enum, list: [:text, :gzip], default: :text
+
     attr_reader :nodes
 
     # backward compatibility
@@ -144,6 +147,13 @@ def configure(conf)
         log.info "adding forwarding server '#{name}'", host: host, port: port, weight: weight, plugin_id: plugin_id
       }
 
+      if @compress == :gzip && @buffer.compress == :text
+        @buffer.compress = :gzip
+      elsif @compress == :text && @buffer.compress == :gzip
+        @compress = :gzip
+        log.info "buffer is compressed. If you don't want to compress buffer, remove `compress` configuration in <buffer>"
+      end
+
       if @nodes.empty?
         raise ConfigError, "forward output plugin requires at least one <server> is required"
       end
@@ -317,9 +327,9 @@ def send_data(node, tag, chunk)
         #end
 
         # writeRawBody(packed_es)
-        chunk.write_to(sock)
+        chunk.write_to(sock, { compress: @compress })
 
-        option = { 'size' => chunk.size_of_events }
+        option = { 'size' => chunk.size_of_events, 'compress' => @compress }
         option['chunk'] = Base64.encode64(chunk.unique_id) if @require_ack_response
         sock.write option.to_msgpack
 
diff --git a/test/plugin/test_out_forward.rb b/test/plugin/test_out_forward.rb
index 22edc4b4b2..601a3531b6 100644
--- a/test/plugin/test_out_forward.rb
+++ b/test/plugin/test_out_forward.rb
@@ -92,6 +92,28 @@ def test_configure_no_server
     end
   end
 
+  def test_configure_text_compress
+    d = create_driver
+    assert_equal :text, d.instance.compress
+  end
+
+  def test_configure_gzip_compress
+    d = create_driver(CONFIG + %[compress gzip])
+    assert_equal :gzip, d.instance.compress
+    assert_equal :gzip, d.instance.buffer.compress
+  end
+
+  def test_configure_gzip_compress_in_buffer
+    d = create_driver(CONFIG + %[
+      <buffer>
+        type memory
+        compress gzip
+      </buffer>
+    ])
+    assert_equal :gzip, d.instance.compress
+    assert_equal :gzip, d.instance.buffer.compress
+  end
+
   def test_phi_failure_detector
     d = create_driver(CONFIG + %[phi_failure_detector false \n phi_threshold 0])
     node = d.instance.nodes.first