diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index e8ece84ab..8e55b1134 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ override_dh_auto_install:
 	mv debian/live-build/usr/bin/live-build-cron* debian/live-build-cron/usr/bin
 
 override_dh_builddeb:
-	dh_builddeb -- -Zgzip -z9
+	dh_builddeb -- -Zxz -z9
 
 override_dh_installchangelogs:
 	dh_installchangelogs docs/ChangeLog
diff --git a/debian/source/options b/debian/source/options
index d053b6585..22a4de9f6 100644
--- a/debian/source/options
+++ b/debian/source/options
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-compression = gzip
+compression = xz
 compression-level = 9