diff --git a/scripts/image b/scripts/image
index b2ef6524af..44530696ca 100755
--- a/scripts/image
+++ b/scripts/image
@@ -231,9 +231,16 @@ rm -rf $TARGET_IMG/$IMAGE_NAME.kernel
 cp -PR $BUILD/linux-$(kernel_version)/arch/$TARGET_KERNEL_ARCH/boot/$KERNEL_TARGET $TARGET_IMG/$IMAGE_NAME.kernel
 chmod 0644 $TARGET_IMG/$IMAGE_NAME.kernel
 
+# use strongest available compression level for images
+if [ "$SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION"  = "lzo" -o "${SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION:-gzip}" = "gzip" ]; then
+  SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION_OPTION="-Xcompression-level 9"
+elif [ "$SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION" = "zstd" ]; then
+  SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION_OPTION="-Xcompression-level 22"
+fi
+
 # create squashfs file, default to gzip if no compression configured
 echo "rm -rf \"$TARGET_IMG/$IMAGE_NAME.system\"" >> $FAKEROOT_SCRIPT
-echo "$TOOLCHAIN/bin/mksquashfs \"$BUILD/image/system\" \"$TARGET_IMG/$IMAGE_NAME.system\" -noappend -comp ${SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION:-gzip}" >> $FAKEROOT_SCRIPT
+echo "$TOOLCHAIN/bin/mksquashfs \"$BUILD/image/system\" \"$TARGET_IMG/$IMAGE_NAME.system\" -noappend -comp ${SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION:-gzip} ${SQUASHFS_COMPRESSION_OPTION}" >> $FAKEROOT_SCRIPT
 
 # run fakeroot
 $TOOLCHAIN/bin/fakeroot -- $FAKEROOT_SCRIPT