diff --git a/tvix/Cargo.lock b/tvix/Cargo.lock
index 5d15a9436..ce6f10bb7 100644
--- a/tvix/Cargo.lock
+++ b/tvix/Cargo.lock
@@ -2448,7 +2448,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
  "log",
  "parking_lot 0.11.2",
- "zstd",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/tvix/Cargo.nix b/tvix/Cargo.nix
index 826ebf320..5e4b54d9d 100644
--- a/tvix/Cargo.nix
+++ b/tvix/Cargo.nix
@@ -7426,11 +7426,6 @@ rec {
             name = "parking_lot";
             packageId = "parking_lot 0.11.2";
           }
-          {
-            name = "zstd";
-            packageId = "zstd";
-            optional = true;
-          }
         ];
         devDependencies = [
           {
@@ -7450,7 +7445,7 @@ rec {
           "testing" = [ "event_log" "lock_free_delays" "compression" "failpoints" "backtrace" ];
           "zstd" = [ "dep:zstd" ];
         };
-        resolvedDefaultFeatures = [ "compression" "default" "no_metrics" "zstd" ];
+        resolvedDefaultFeatures = [ "default" "no_metrics" ];
       };
       "smallvec" = rec {
         crateName = "smallvec";
@@ -9457,7 +9452,6 @@ rec {
           {
             name = "sled";
             packageId = "sled";
-            features = [ "compression" ];
           }
           {
             name = "thiserror";
@@ -9980,7 +9974,6 @@ rec {
           {
             name = "sled";
             packageId = "sled";
-            features = [ "compression" ];
           }
           {
             name = "thiserror";
diff --git a/tvix/castore/Cargo.toml b/tvix/castore/Cargo.toml
index 573c7daa0..468ef8ec3 100644
--- a/tvix/castore/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tvix/castore/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ futures = "0.3.28"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 pin-project-lite = "0.2.13"
 prost = "0.12.1"
-sled = { version = "0.34.7", features = ["compression"] }
+sled = { version = "0.34.7" }
 thiserror = "1.0.38"
 tokio-stream = { version = "0.1.14", features = ["fs", "net"] }
 tokio-util = { version = "0.7.9", features = ["io", "io-util"] }
diff --git a/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/from_addr.rs b/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/from_addr.rs
index 2834d25a1..106edce04 100644
--- a/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/from_addr.rs
+++ b/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/from_addr.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ pub async fn from_addr(uri: &str) -> Result<Arc<dyn BlobService>, crate::Error>
             ));
         }
 
-        // TODO: expose compression and other parameters as URL parameters?
+        // TODO: expose other parameters as URL parameters?
 
         if url.path().is_empty() {
             return Ok(Arc::new(
diff --git a/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/sled.rs b/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/sled.rs
index 12391ed72..a6fdbac49 100644
--- a/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/sled.rs
+++ b/tvix/castore/src/blobservice/sled.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ pub struct SledBlobService {
 
 impl SledBlobService {
     pub fn new(p: PathBuf) -> Result<Self, sled::Error> {
-        let config = sled::Config::default().use_compression(true).path(p);
+        let config = sled::Config::default()
+            .use_compression(false) // is a required parameter
+            .path(p);
         let db = config.open()?;
 
         Ok(Self { db })
diff --git a/tvix/castore/src/directoryservice/sled.rs b/tvix/castore/src/directoryservice/sled.rs
index 400d2fed5..50e58e7e7 100644
--- a/tvix/castore/src/directoryservice/sled.rs
+++ b/tvix/castore/src/directoryservice/sled.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ pub struct SledDirectoryService {
 
 impl SledDirectoryService {
     pub fn new(p: PathBuf) -> Result<Self, sled::Error> {
-        let config = sled::Config::default().use_compression(true).path(p);
+        let config = sled::Config::default()
+            .use_compression(false) // is a required parameter
+            .path(p);
         let db = config.open()?;
 
         Ok(Self { db })
diff --git a/tvix/store/Cargo.toml b/tvix/store/Cargo.toml
index d5ea10a5b..86d40d72b 100644
--- a/tvix/store/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tvix/store/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ parking_lot = "0.12.1"
 pin-project-lite = "0.2.13"
 prost = "0.12.1"
 sha2 = "0.10.6"
-sled = { version = "0.34.7", features = ["compression"] }
+sled = { version = "0.34.7" }
 thiserror = "1.0.38"
 tokio = { version = "1.32.0", features = ["fs", "macros", "net", "rt", "rt-multi-thread", "signal"] }
 tokio-listener = { version = "0.2.2", features = [ "tonic010" ] }
diff --git a/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/from_addr.rs b/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/from_addr.rs
index ee6a6925a..1505b3e42 100644
--- a/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/from_addr.rs
+++ b/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/from_addr.rs
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ pub async fn from_addr(
             ));
         }
 
-        // TODO: expose compression and other parameters as URL parameters?
+        // TODO: expose other parameters as URL parameters?
 
         if url.path().is_empty() {
             return Ok(Arc::new(
diff --git a/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/sled.rs b/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/sled.rs
index a12f918c8..1382c3c29 100644
--- a/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/sled.rs
+++ b/tvix/store/src/pathinfoservice/sled.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@ impl SledPathInfoService {
         blob_service: Arc<dyn BlobService>,
         directory_service: Arc<dyn DirectoryService>,
     ) -> Result<Self, sled::Error> {
-        let config = sled::Config::default().use_compression(true).path(p);
+        let config = sled::Config::default()
+            .use_compression(false) // is a required parameter
+            .path(p);
         let db = config.open()?;
 
         Ok(Self {