diff --git a/make/properties.xml b/make/properties.xml
index e565265..ffe54b9 100644
--- a/make/properties.xml
+++ b/make/properties.xml
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
     <property name="hy.javac.source" value="1.5" />
     <property name="hy.javac.target" value="1.5" />
     <property name="hy.javac.maxmem" value="384M" />
+    <property name="hy.jar.compress" value="true" />
 
     <!-- Temporarily always include class file debug info -->
     <condition property="hy.javac.debug" value="on" else="on">