diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/formats/to/msgpackz.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/formats/to/msgpackz.rs
index 9168d05018..83d812cab6 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/formats/to/msgpackz.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/formats/to/msgpackz.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use nu_engine::command_prelude::*;
 use super::msgpack::write_value;
 
 const BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 65536;
-const DEFAULT_QUALITY: u32 = 1;
+const DEFAULT_QUALITY: u32 = 3; // 1 can be very bad
 const DEFAULT_WINDOW_SIZE: u32 = 20;
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ impl Command for ToMsgpackz {
             .named(
                 "quality",
                 SyntaxShape::Int,
-                "Quality of brotli compression (default 1)",
+                "Quality of brotli compression (default 3)",
                 Some('q'),
             )
             .named(
diff --git a/crates/nu-protocol/src/plugin/registry_file/mod.rs b/crates/nu-protocol/src/plugin/registry_file/mod.rs
index 0b5cc9c315..dcaba26b90 100644
--- a/crates/nu-protocol/src/plugin/registry_file/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-protocol/src/plugin/registry_file/mod.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use crate::{PluginIdentity, PluginSignature, ShellError, Span};
 const BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 65536;
 
 // Chose settings at the low end, because we're just trying to get the maximum speed
-const COMPRESSION_QUALITY: u32 = 1;
+const COMPRESSION_QUALITY: u32 = 3; // 1 can be very bad
 const WIN_SIZE: u32 = 20; // recommended 20-22
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]