diff --git a/doc/manual/nix-copy-closure.xml b/doc/manual/nix-copy-closure.xml
index 584e713f14..3f2f12320f 100644
--- a/doc/manual/nix-copy-closure.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/nix-copy-closure.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
     </group>
     <arg><option>--sign</option></arg>
     <arg><option>--gzip</option></arg>
+    <arg><option>--bzip2</option></arg>
+    <arg><option>--xz</option></arg>
     <arg choice='plain'>
       <arg><replaceable>user@</replaceable></arg><replaceable>machine</replaceable>
     </arg>
@@ -96,10 +98,13 @@ those paths.  If this bothers you, use
 
   </varlistentry>
 
-  <varlistentry><term><option>--gzip</option></term>
+  <varlistentry><term><option>--gzip</option> / <option>--bzip2</option> / <option>--xz</option></term>
 
-    <listitem><para>Compress the dump of each path with
-    <command>gzip</command> before sending it.</para></listitem>
+    <listitem><para>Compress the dump of each path with respectively
+    <command>gzip</command>, <command>bzip2</command> or
+    <command>xz</command> before sending it.  The corresponding
+    decompression program must be installed on the target
+    machine.</para></listitem>
 
   </varlistentry>
 
diff --git a/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in b/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
index 2eac56e3f2..9191de59e3 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use Nix::CopyClosure;
 
 if (scalar @ARGV < 1) {
     print STDERR <<EOF
-Usage: nix-copy-closure [--from | --to] HOSTNAME [--sign] [--gzip] PATHS...
+Usage: nix-copy-closure [--from | --to] HOSTNAME [--sign] [--gzip] [--bzip2] [--xz] PATHS...
 EOF
     ;
     exit 1;
@@ -43,6 +43,14 @@ while (@ARGV) {
         $compressor = "gzip";
         $decompressor = "gunzip";
     }
+    elsif ($arg eq "--bzip2") {
+        $compressor = "bzip2";
+        $decompressor = "bunzip2";
+    }
+    elsif ($arg eq "--xz") {
+        $compressor = "xz";
+        $decompressor = "xz -d";
+    }
     elsif ($arg eq "--from") {
         $toMode = 0;
     }