diff --git a/.changeset/khaki-bats-learn.md b/.changeset/khaki-bats-learn.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b9f931dab6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/khaki-bats-learn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/plugin-commands-publishing": minor
+"@pnpm/config": minor
+"pnpm": minor
+---
+
+A custom compression level may be specified for the `pnpm pack` command using the `pack-gzip-level` setting [#6393](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/issues/6393).
diff --git a/config/config/src/Config.ts b/config/config/src/Config.ts
index badd6dad997..da4df01b337 100644
--- a/config/config/src/Config.ts
+++ b/config/config/src/Config.ts
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ export interface Config {
   dedupePeerDependents?: boolean
   patchesDir?: string
   ignoreWorkspaceCycles?: boolean
+  packGzipLevel?: number
 
   registries: Registries
   ignoreWorkspaceRootCheck: boolean
diff --git a/config/config/src/index.ts b/config/config/src/index.ts
index 114f7b782de..5f45f03a89a 100644
--- a/config/config/src/index.ts
+++ b/config/config/src/index.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ export const types = Object.assign({
   'npm-path': String,
   offline: Boolean,
   'only-built-dependencies': [String],
+  'pack-gzip-level': Number,
   'package-import-method': ['auto', 'hardlink', 'clone', 'copy'],
   'patches-dir': String,
   pnpmfile: String,
diff --git a/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/pack.ts b/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/pack.ts
index 2aaa72af6a2..9ad2f2cf6cb 100644
--- a/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/pack.ts
+++ b/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/pack.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ export function rcOptionsTypes () {
 export function cliOptionsTypes () {
   return {
     'pack-destination': String,
+    ...pick([
+      'pack-gzip-level',
+    ], allTypes),
   }
 }
 
@@ -55,7 +58,7 @@ export function help () {
 }
 
 export async function handler (
-  opts: Pick<UniversalOptions, 'dir'> & Pick<Config, 'ignoreScripts' | 'rawConfig' | 'embedReadme'> & Partial<Pick<Config, 'extraBinPaths' | 'extraEnv'>> & {
+  opts: Pick<UniversalOptions, 'dir'> & Pick<Config, 'ignoreScripts' | 'rawConfig' | 'embedReadme' | 'packGzipLevel'> & Partial<Pick<Config, 'extraBinPaths' | 'extraEnv'>> & {
     argv: {
       original: string[]
     }
@@ -110,6 +113,7 @@ export async function handler (
     projectDir: dir,
     embedReadme: opts.embedReadme,
     modulesDir: path.join(opts.dir, 'node_modules'),
+    packGzipLevel: opts.packGzipLevel,
   })
   if (!opts.ignoreScripts) {
     await _runScriptsIfPresent(['postpack'], entryManifest)
@@ -133,6 +137,7 @@ async function packPkg (opts: {
   projectDir: string
   embedReadme?: boolean
   modulesDir: string
+  packGzipLevel?: number
 }): Promise<void> {
   const {
     destFile,
@@ -160,7 +165,7 @@ async function packPkg (opts: {
     pack.entry({ mode, mtime, name }, fs.readFileSync(source))
   }
   const tarball = fs.createWriteStream(destFile)
-  pack.pipe(createGzip()).pipe(tarball)
+  pack.pipe(createGzip({ level: opts.packGzipLevel })).pipe(tarball)
   pack.finalize()
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     tarball.on('close', () => {
diff --git a/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts b/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts
index 19a0ec15c35..1d53857798b 100644
--- a/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts
+++ b/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ export async function publish (
     engineStrict?: boolean
     recursive?: boolean
     workspaceDir?: string
-  } & Pick<Config, 'allProjects' | 'gitChecks' | 'ignoreScripts' | 'publishBranch' | 'embedReadme'>,
+  } & Pick<Config, 'allProjects' | 'gitChecks' | 'ignoreScripts' | 'publishBranch' | 'embedReadme' | 'packGzipLevel'>,
   params: string[]
 ) {
   if (opts.gitChecks !== false && await isGitRepo()) {
diff --git a/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/test/pack.ts b/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/test/pack.ts
index a50745ba368..358455dcc91 100644
--- a/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/test/pack.ts
+++ b/releasing/plugin-commands-publishing/test/pack.ts
@@ -280,3 +280,32 @@ test('pack to custom destination directory', async () => {
 
   expect(output).toBe(path.resolve('custom-dest/custom-dest-0.0.0.tgz'))
 })
+
+test('pack: custom pack-gzip-level', async () => {
+  prepare({
+    name: 'test-publish-package.json',
+    version: '0.0.0',
+  })
+
+  const packOpts = {
+    ...DEFAULT_OPTS,
+    argv: { original: [] },
+    dir: process.cwd(),
+    extraBinPaths: [],
+  }
+  await pack.handler({
+    ...packOpts,
+    packGzipLevel: 9,
+    packDestination: path.resolve('../small'),
+  })
+
+  await pack.handler({
+    ...packOpts,
+    packGzipLevel: 0,
+    packDestination: path.resolve('../big'),
+  })
+
+  const tgz1 = fs.statSync(path.resolve('../small/test-publish-package.json-0.0.0.tgz'))
+  const tgz2 = fs.statSync(path.resolve('../big/test-publish-package.json-0.0.0.tgz'))
+  expect(tgz1.size).not.toEqual(tgz2.size)
+})