diff --git a/packages/backend/src/config.ts b/packages/backend/src/config.ts
index 5698f0b69e..ce66df11f9 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/config.ts
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ export function loadConfig(): Config {
 			preSave: config.activityLogging?.preSave ?? false,
 			maxAge: config.activityLogging?.maxAge ?? (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 30),
 		},
-		websocketCompression: config.websocketCompression,
+		websocketCompression: config.websocketCompression ?? false,
 	};
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts b/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts
index f292c48306..0954744f81 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/server/api/StreamingApiServerService.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export class StreamingApiServerService {
 	public attach(server: http.Server): void {
 		this.#wss = new WebSocket.WebSocketServer({
 			noServer: true,
-			perMessageDeflate: this.config.websocketCompression ?? false,
+			perMessageDeflate: this.config.websocketCompression,
 		});
 
 		server.on('upgrade', async (request, socket, head) => {