diff --git a/system/jlib/jfile.cpp b/system/jlib/jfile.cpp
index 67b15ca9aa4..43014033303 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jfile.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jfile.cpp
@@ -782,7 +782,7 @@ static void initRenameRetrySettings()
     }
     catch (IException *e) // handle cases where config. not available
     {
-        EXCLOG(e, "doRename");
+        EXCLOG(e, "initRenameRetrySettings");
         e->Release();
         renameRetries = 0;
         manualRenameChk = false;
diff --git a/system/jlib/jlzw.cpp b/system/jlib/jlzw.cpp
index 6401657a7a9..23126cfac4e 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jlzw.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jlzw.cpp
@@ -50,6 +50,31 @@ typedef unsigned long   bucket_t;
 typedef __int64 lbucket_t;
 
 
+static std::atomic<bool> disableZeroSizeCompressedFiles{false};
+static std::atomic<bool> initialisedCompressionOptions{false};
+
+static bool allowZeroSizeCompressedFiles()
+{
+    if (!initialisedCompressionOptions)
+    {
+        // NB: potentially could be >1 thread here, but that's ok.
+        try
+        {
+            Owned<IPropertyTree> globalConfig = getGlobalConfigSP();
+            Owned<IPropertyTree> config = getComponentConfigSP();
+            disableZeroSizeCompressedFiles = config->getPropBool("expert/@disableZeroSizeCompressedFiles", globalConfig->getPropBool("expert/@disableZeroSizeCompressedFiles", disableZeroSizeCompressedFiles));
+        }
+        catch (IException *e) // handle cases where config. not available
+        {
+            EXCLOG(e, "allowZeroSizeCompressedFiles");
+            e->Release();
+        }
+        initialisedCompressionOptions = true;
+    }
+    return !disableZeroSizeCompressedFiles.load();
+}
+
+
 //#define STATS
 //#define TEST
 #ifdef _DEBUG
@@ -2042,7 +2067,7 @@ class CCompressedFile : implements ICompressedFileIO, public CInterface
     Owned<IExpander> expander;
     MemoryAttr compressedInputBlock;
     unsigned compMethod;
-    offset_t lastFlushPos = (offset_t)-1;
+    offset_t lastFlushPos = 0;
     offset_t nextExpansionPos = (offset_t)-1;
     offset_t startBlockPos = (offset_t)-1;
     size32_t fullBlockSize = 0;
@@ -2466,20 +2491,29 @@ class CCompressedFile : implements ICompressedFileIO, public CInterface
                 overflow.clear();
                 throw MakeStringException(-1,"Partial row written at end of file %d of %d",ol,trailer.recordSize);
             }
-            flush();
-            trailer.datacrc = trailer.crc;
-            if (setcrc) {
-                indexbuf.append(sizeof(trailer)-sizeof(trailer.crc),&trailer);
-                trailer.crc = crc32((const char *)indexbuf.toByteArray(),
-                                indexbuf.length(),trailer.crc);
-                indexbuf.append(trailer.crc);
-            }
-            else {
-                trailer.datacrc = 0;
-                trailer.crc = ~0U;
-                indexbuf.append(sizeof(trailer),&trailer);
+
+            //Avoid writing out a header/footer if the file is empty
+            if ((trailer.expandedSize != 0) || !allowZeroSizeCompressedFiles())
+            {
+                //Backward compatibility - force a single index entry, even if the file is empty
+                if (trailer.expandedSize == 0)
+                    lastFlushPos = (offset_t)-1;
+                flush();
+                trailer.datacrc = trailer.crc;
+                if (setcrc) {
+                    indexbuf.append(sizeof(trailer)-sizeof(trailer.crc),&trailer);
+                    trailer.crc = crc32((const char *)indexbuf.toByteArray(),
+                                    indexbuf.length(),trailer.crc);
+                    indexbuf.append(trailer.crc);
+                }
+                else {
+                    trailer.datacrc = 0;
+                    trailer.crc = ~0U;
+                    indexbuf.append(sizeof(trailer),&trailer);
+                }
+                checkedwrite(trailer.indexPos,indexbuf.length(),indexbuf.toByteArray());
             }
-            checkedwrite(trailer.indexPos,indexbuf.length(),indexbuf.toByteArray());
+
             indexbuf.clear();
             if (fileio)
                 fileio->close();
diff --git a/testing/regress/ecl/emptycompressed.ecl b/testing/regress/ecl/emptycompressed.ecl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9afcb3320f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/regress/ecl/emptycompressed.ecl
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*##############################################################################
+
+    HPCC SYSTEMS software Copyright (C) 2012 HPCC Systems®.
+
+    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+    You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+    limitations under the License.
+############################################################################## */
+
+import Std.System.Thorlib;
+import Std.File AS FileServices;
+import Std.Str;
+import $.setup;
+
+prefix := setup.Files(false, false).QueryFilePrefix;
+
+filename := prefix+'empty';
+r := { string x};
+
+ds := DATASET(0, transform(r, SELF := []));
+
+iclData0 := DATASET(filename, r, flat);
+
+ordered(
+    output(ds,,filename, overwrite, compressed);
+    output(iclData0);
+    FileServices.DeleteLogicalFile(filename,true),
+);
diff --git a/testing/regress/ecl/key/emptycompressed.xml b/testing/regress/ecl/key/emptycompressed.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..375b3016287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/regress/ecl/key/emptycompressed.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<Dataset name='Result 1'>
+</Dataset>
+<Dataset name='Result 2'>
+</Dataset>