diff --git a/backend/remote-state/consul/backend.go b/backend/remote-state/consul/backend.go
index 7193bf8a9..979dc368c 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/consul/backend.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/consul/backend.go
@@ -53,6 +53,13 @@ func New() backend.Backend {
 				Description: "HTTP Auth in the format of 'username:password'",
 				Default:     "", // To prevent input
 			},
+
+			"gzip": &schema.Schema{
+				Type:        schema.TypeBool,
+				Optional:    true,
+				Description: "Compress the state data using gzip",
+				Default:     false,
+			},
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/backend/remote-state/consul/backend_state.go b/backend/remote-state/consul/backend_state.go
index 6e6d115f0..0339dd79a 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/consul/backend_state.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/consul/backend_state.go
@@ -85,11 +85,15 @@ func (b *Backend) State(name string) (state.State, error) {
 	// Determine the path of the data
 	path := b.path(name)
 
+	// Determine whether to gzip or not
+	gzip := b.configData.Get("gzip").(bool)
+
 	// Build the state client
 	stateMgr := &remote.State{
 		Client: &RemoteClient{
 			Client: client,
 			Path:   path,
+			GZip:   gzip,
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/backend/remote-state/consul/client.go b/backend/remote-state/consul/client.go
index baa3a5c32..cd5971163 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/consul/client.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/consul/client.go
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ import (
 const (
 	lockSuffix     = "/.lock"
 	lockInfoSuffix = "/.lockinfo"
-	maxKVSize      = 512 * 1024
 )
 
 // RemoteClient is a remote client that stores data in Consul.
 type RemoteClient struct {
 	Client *consulapi.Client
 	Path   string
+	GZip   bool
 
 	consulLock *consulapi.Lock
 	lockCh     <-chan struct{}
@@ -58,8 +58,7 @@ func (c *RemoteClient) Get() (*remote.Payload, error) {
 
 func (c *RemoteClient) Put(data []byte) error {
 	payload := data
-	// If the payload to be written exceeds the Consul KV byte limit, compress
-	if len(data) > maxKVSize {
+	if c.GZip {
 		if compressedState, err := compressState(data); err == nil {
 			payload = compressedState
 		} else {
diff --git a/website/source/docs/backends/types/consul.html.md b/website/source/docs/backends/types/consul.html.md
index 59c05724e..24d45fe14 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/backends/types/consul.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/backends/types/consul.html.md
@@ -53,3 +53,4 @@ The following configuration options / environment variables are supported:
  * `datacenter` - (Optional) The datacenter to use. Defaults to that of the agent.
  * `http_auth` / `CONSUL_HTTP_AUTH` - (Optional) HTTP Basic Authentication credentials to be used when
    communicating with Consul, in the format of either `user` or `user:pass`.
+ * `gzip` - (Optional) `true` to compress the state data using gzip, or `false` (the default) to leave it uncompressed.