diff --git a/include/sys/dbuf.h b/include/sys/dbuf.h
index 2fcf596b00..394fdfb151 100644
--- a/include/sys/dbuf.h
+++ b/include/sys/dbuf.h
@@ -324,7 +324,8 @@ boolean_t dbuf_is_metadata(dmu_buf_impl_t *db);
 	((_db)->db_objset->os_secondary_cache == ZFS_CACHE_METADATA)))
 
 #define	DBUF_IS_L2COMPRESSIBLE(_db)					\
-	((_db)->db_objset->os_compress != ZIO_COMPRESS_OFF)
+	((_db)->db_objset->os_compress != ZIO_COMPRESS_OFF ||		\
+	(dbuf_is_metadata(_db) && zfs_mdcomp_disable == B_FALSE))
 
 #ifdef ZFS_DEBUG
 
diff --git a/include/sys/dmu.h b/include/sys/dmu.h
index 17857255e3..adaab4c6bb 100644
--- a/include/sys/dmu.h
+++ b/include/sys/dmu.h
@@ -828,6 +828,8 @@ int dmu_diff(objset_t *tosnap, objset_t *fromsnap, struct vnode *vp,
 #define	ZFS_CRC64_POLY	0xC96C5795D7870F42ULL	/* ECMA-182, reflected form */
 extern uint64_t zfs_crc64_table[256];
 
+extern int zfs_mdcomp_disable;
+
 #ifdef	__cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/include/sys/dmu_objset.h b/include/sys/dmu_objset.h
index f424744295..507f732228 100644
--- a/include/sys/dmu_objset.h
+++ b/include/sys/dmu_objset.h
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ struct objset {
 	((os)->os_secondary_cache == ZFS_CACHE_ALL ||		\
 	(os)->os_secondary_cache == ZFS_CACHE_METADATA)
 
-#define	DMU_OS_IS_L2COMPRESSIBLE(os)	((os)->os_compress != ZIO_COMPRESS_OFF)
+#define	DMU_OS_IS_L2COMPRESSIBLE(os)	(zfs_mdcomp_disable == B_FALSE)
 
 /* called from zpl */
 int dmu_objset_hold(const char *name, void *tag, objset_t **osp);