diff --git a/go/cmd/ocitool/createlayer_cmd.go b/go/cmd/ocitool/createlayer_cmd.go
index eb4c9a5..d5947f0 100644
--- a/go/cmd/ocitool/createlayer_cmd.go
+++ b/go/cmd/ocitool/createlayer_cmd.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func CreateLayerCmd(c *cli.Context) error {
 	var gzipWriter *gzip.Writer
 	var mediaType string
 
-	if config.UseZstd {
+	if config.Compression == "COMPRESSION_ZSTD" {
 		zstdWriter = zstd.NewWriter(wc)
 		mediaType = ocispec.MediaTypeImageLayerZstd
 		tw = tar.NewWriter(zstdWriter)
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func CreateLayerCmd(c *cli.Context) error {
 	// Need to flush before we count bytes and digest, might as well close since
 	// it's not needed anymore.
 	tw.Close()
-	if config.UseZstd {
+	if config.Compression == "COMPRESSION_ZSTD" {
 		zstdWriter.Close()
 	} else {
 		gzipWriter.Close()
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ type createLayerConfig struct {
 	FileMapping    map[string]string `json:"file-map" toml:"file-map" yaml:"file-map"`
 	OutputLayer    string            `json:"out" toml:"out" yaml:"out"`
 	SymlinkMapping map[string]string `json:"symlink" toml:"symlink" yaml:"symlink"`
-	UseZstd        bool              `json:"zstd-compression" toml:"zstd-compression" yaml:"zstd-compression"`
+	Compression    string            `json:"compression" toml:"compression" yaml:"compression"`
 }
 
 func newCreateLayerConfig(c *cli.Context) *createLayerConfig {
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func newCreateLayerConfig(c *cli.Context) *createLayerConfig {
 		OutputLayer:    c.String("out"),
 		Descriptor:     c.String("outd"),
 		SymlinkMapping: c.Generic("symlink").(*flagutil.KeyValueFlag).Map,
-		UseZstd:        c.Bool("zstd-compression"),
+		Compression:    c.String("compression"),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/go/cmd/ocitool/main.go b/go/cmd/ocitool/main.go
index d14ec50..2982657 100644
--- a/go/cmd/ocitool/main.go
+++ b/go/cmd/ocitool/main.go
@@ -70,10 +70,9 @@ var app = &cli.App{
 					Name:  "file-map",
 					Value: &flagutil.KeyValueFlag{},
 				},
-				&cli.BoolFlag{
-					Name:  "zstd-compression",
-					Usage: "Use the zstd library for compression.",
-					Value: false,
+				&cli.StringFlag{
+					Name:  "compression",
+					Usage: "Select a library to use for compression.",
 				},
 			},
 		},
diff --git a/oci/image.bzl b/oci/image.bzl
index f2e4cf5..8d2e8db 100755
--- a/oci/image.bzl
+++ b/oci/image.bzl
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def _oci_image_layer_impl(ctx):
     descriptor_file = ctx.actions.declare_file("{}.descriptor.json".format(ctx.label.name))
 
     archive = None
-    if ctx.attr.zstd_compression:
+    if ctx.attr.compression == "COMPRESSION_ZSTD":
         archive = ctx.actions.declare_file(ctx.label.name + ".tar.zst")
     else:
         archive = ctx.actions.declare_file(ctx.label.name + ".tar.gz")
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def _oci_image_layer_impl(ctx):
                         "--outd={}".format(descriptor_file.path),
                         "--dir={}".format(ctx.attr.directory),
                         "--bazel-label={}".format(ctx.label),
-                        "--zstd-compression={}".format(ctx.attr.zstd_compression),
+                        "--compression={}".format(ctx.attr.compression),
                     ] +
                     ["--file={}".format(f.path) for f in ctx.files.files] +
                     ["--symlink={}={}".format(k, v) for k, v in ctx.attr.symlinks.items()] +
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ oci_image_layer = rule(
             doc = "Dictionary of file -> file location in tarball",
             allow_files = True,
         ),
-        "zstd_compression": attr.bool(
-            doc = "Indicates whether zstd compression should be used.",
-            default = False,
+        "compression": attr.string(
+            doc = "Indicates which compression library should be used.  Options include COMPRESSION_GZIP and COMPRESSION_ZSTD.",
+            default = "COMPRESSION_GZIP",
         ),
     },
     toolchains = ["@com_github_datadog_rules_oci//oci:toolchain"],