diff --git a/src/connectrpc/_compression.py b/src/connectrpc/_compression.py
index 6475d084..48475182 100644
--- a/src/connectrpc/_compression.py
+++ b/src/connectrpc/_compression.py
@@ -57,6 +57,17 @@ def negotiate_compression(
     return _identity
 
 
+def resolve_request_compression(
+    name: str, compressions: dict[str, Compression]
+) -> Compression | None:
+    """Return the compression for a request's encoding, or None if unsupported.
+
+    Every request path resolves the name here: an empty name means identity, as
+    in connect-go, and names match exactly.
+    """
+    return compressions.get(name or "identity")
+
+
 def unknown_compression_error(
     name: str, compressions: dict[str, Compression]
 ) -> ConnectError:
diff --git a/src/connectrpc/_protocol_connect.py b/src/connectrpc/_protocol_connect.py
index cb609152..7dd37fd4 100644
--- a/src/connectrpc/_protocol_connect.py
+++ b/src/connectrpc/_protocol_connect.py
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, TypeVar
 
 from ._codec import CODEC_NAME_JSON, Codec
-from ._compression import IdentityCompression, negotiate_compression
+from ._compression import (
+    IdentityCompression,
+    negotiate_compression,
+    resolve_request_compression,
+)
 from ._envelope import EnvelopeReader, EnvelopeWriter
 from ._protocol import (
     ConnectWireError,
@@ -144,11 +148,9 @@ def codec_name_from_content_type(self, content_type: str, *, stream: bool) -> st
     def negotiate_stream_compression(
         self, headers: Headers, compressions: dict[str, Compression]
     ) -> tuple[Compression | None, Compression]:
-        # An empty header means identity too, as in connect-go.
-        req_compression_name = (
-            headers.get(CONNECT_STREAMING_HEADER_COMPRESSION) or "identity"
+        req_compression = resolve_request_compression(
+            headers.get(CONNECT_STREAMING_HEADER_COMPRESSION, ""), compressions
         )
-        req_compression = compressions.get(req_compression_name)
         accept_compression = headers.get(
             CONNECT_STREAMING_HEADER_ACCEPT_COMPRESSION, ""
         )
diff --git a/src/connectrpc/_protocol_grpc.py b/src/connectrpc/_protocol_grpc.py
index 7ac4140b..9df477e5 100644
--- a/src/connectrpc/_protocol_grpc.py
+++ b/src/connectrpc/_protocol_grpc.py
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@
 
 from pyqwest import Headers as HTTPHeaders
 
-from ._compression import IdentityCompression, negotiate_compression
+from ._compression import (
+    IdentityCompression,
+    negotiate_compression,
+    resolve_request_compression,
+)
 from ._envelope import EnvelopeReader, EnvelopeWriter
 from ._gen.google.rpc.status_pb import Status
 from ._protocol import (
@@ -96,8 +100,9 @@ def codec_name_from_content_type(self, content_type: str, *, stream: bool) -> st
     def negotiate_stream_compression(
         self, headers: Headers, compressions: dict[str, Compression]
     ) -> tuple[Compression | None, Compression]:
-        req_compression_name = headers.get(GRPC_HEADER_COMPRESSION) or "identity"
-        req_compression = compressions.get(req_compression_name)
+        req_compression = resolve_request_compression(
+            headers.get(GRPC_HEADER_COMPRESSION, ""), compressions
+        )
         accept_compression = headers.get(GRPC_HEADER_ACCEPT_COMPRESSION, "")
         resp_compression = negotiate_compression(accept_compression, compressions)
         return req_compression, resp_compression
diff --git a/src/connectrpc/_server_async.py b/src/connectrpc/_server_async.py
index bef10199..87eb81e8 100644
--- a/src/connectrpc/_server_async.py
+++ b/src/connectrpc/_server_async.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from ._compression import (
     negotiate_compression,
     resolve_compressions,
+    resolve_request_compression,
     unknown_compression_error,
 )
 from ._envelope import EnvelopeReader
@@ -342,8 +343,8 @@ async def _read_get_request(
             message = message.encode("utf-8")
 
         # Handle compression
-        compression_name = params.get("compression", [""])[0] or "identity"
-        compression = self._compressions.get(compression_name)
+        compression_name = params.get("compression", [""])[0]
+        compression = resolve_request_compression(compression_name, self._compressions)
         if not compression:
             raise unknown_compression_error(compression_name, self._compressions)
 
@@ -376,8 +377,8 @@ async def _read_post_request(
         req_body = b"".join(chunks)
 
         # Handle compression if specified
-        compression_name = headers.get("content-encoding") or "identity"
-        compression = self._compressions.get(compression_name)
+        compression_name = headers.get("content-encoding", "")
+        compression = resolve_request_compression(compression_name, self._compressions)
         if not compression:
             raise unknown_compression_error(compression_name, self._compressions)
 
diff --git a/src/connectrpc/_server_sync.py b/src/connectrpc/_server_sync.py
index 2f203ccc..6dcdcf45 100644
--- a/src/connectrpc/_server_sync.py
+++ b/src/connectrpc/_server_sync.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from ._compression import (
     negotiate_compression,
     resolve_compressions,
+    resolve_request_compression,
     unknown_compression_error,
 )
 from ._envelope import EnvelopeReader, EnvelopeWriter
@@ -406,8 +407,10 @@ def _handle_post_request(
                 req_body = b"".join(chunks)
 
             # Handle compression if specified
-            compression_name = environ.get("HTTP_CONTENT_ENCODING") or "identity"
-            compression = self._compressions.get(compression_name)
+            compression_name = environ.get("HTTP_CONTENT_ENCODING", "")
+            compression = resolve_request_compression(
+                compression_name, self._compressions
+            )
             if not compression:
                 raise unknown_compression_error(compression_name, self._compressions)
             try:
@@ -461,8 +464,10 @@ def _handle_get_request(
                 message = message.encode("utf-8")
 
             # Handle compression if specified
-            compression_name = params.get("compression", [""])[0] or "identity"
-            compression = self._compressions.get(compression_name)
+            compression_name = params.get("compression", [""])[0]
+            compression = resolve_request_compression(
+                compression_name, self._compressions
+            )
             if not compression:
                 raise unknown_compression_error(compression_name, self._compressions)
             message = compression.decompress(message, self._read_max_bytes)
diff --git a/test/test_compression.py b/test/test_compression.py
index f3d35890..f66c6d96 100644
--- a/test/test_compression.py
+++ b/test/test_compression.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from connectrpc._compression import (
     IdentityCompression,
     resolve_compressions,
+    resolve_request_compression,
     unknown_compression_error,
 )
 from connectrpc._protocol_connect import ConnectServerProtocol
@@ -264,6 +265,21 @@ def make_similar_hats(self, request, _ctx):
     assert hats == [Hat(size=10, color="blue")]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("name", "expected"),
+    [
+        pytest.param("", "identity", id="empty"),
+        pytest.param("identity", "identity", id="identity"),
+        pytest.param("gzip", "gzip", id="gzip"),
+        pytest.param("GZIP", None, id="exact-match"),
+        pytest.param("zstd", None, id="unknown"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_resolve_request_compression(name: str, expected: str | None) -> None:
+    compression = resolve_request_compression(name, resolve_compressions(None))
+    assert (compression.name() if compression else None) == expected
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("protocol", "header_name"),
     [