diff --git a/src/compress.cpp b/src/compress.cpp
index c6260523..13d4d245 100644
--- a/src/compress.cpp
+++ b/src/compress.cpp
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ int upx_compress           ( const upx_bytep src, unsigned  src_len,
     cresult->c_len = 0;
 #endif
 
-    if (method < 0) {
+    if (0) {
     }
 #if defined(WITH_LZMA)
     else if (M_IS_LZMA(method))
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ int upx_decompress         ( const upx_bytep src, unsigned  src_len,
     if (cresult && cresult->method == 0)
         cresult = NULL;
 
-    if (method < 0) {
+    if (0) {
     }
 #if defined(WITH_LZMA)
     else if (M_IS_LZMA(method))
@@ -165,6 +165,10 @@ int upx_decompress         ( const upx_bytep src, unsigned  src_len,
 #if defined(WITH_UCL)
     else if (M_IS_NRV2B(method) || M_IS_NRV2D(method) || M_IS_NRV2E(method))
         r = upx_ucl_decompress(src, src_len, dst, dst_len, method, cresult);
+#endif
+#if defined(WITH_ZLIB)
+    else if (M_IS_DEFLATE(method))
+        r = upx_zlib_decompress(src, src_len, dst, dst_len, method, cresult);
 #endif
     else {
         throwInternalError("unknown decompression method");
@@ -193,7 +197,7 @@ int upx_test_overlap       ( const upx_bytep buf, unsigned src_off,
     unsigned overlap_overhead = src_off + src_len - *dst_len;
     assert((int)overlap_overhead > 0);
 
-    if (method < 0) {
+    if (0) {
     }
 #if defined(WITH_LZMA)
     else if (M_IS_LZMA(method))
diff --git a/src/linker.cpp b/src/linker.cpp
index 80713f93..e5b6766e 100644
--- a/src/linker.cpp
+++ b/src/linker.cpp
@@ -130,18 +130,52 @@ ElfLinker::~ElfLinker()
     free(relocations);
 }
 
-void ElfLinker::init(const void *pdata, int plen)
+void ElfLinker::init(const void *pdata_v, int plen)
 {
-    upx_byte *i = new upx_byte[plen + 1];
-    memcpy(i, pdata, plen);
-    input = i;
-    inputlen = plen;
-    input[plen] = 0;
+    const upx_byte *pdata = (const upx_byte *) pdata_v;
+    // decompress
+    if (plen >= 16 && memcmp(pdata, "UPX#", 4) == 0)
+    {
+        int method = -1;
+        unsigned u_len, c_len;
+        if (pdata[4] == M_DEFLATE)
+        {
+            method = M_DEFLATE;
+            u_len = get_le16(pdata + 5);
+            c_len = get_le16(pdata + 7);
+            pdata += 9;
+            assert(9 + c_len == (unsigned) plen);
+        }
+        else if (pdata[4] == 0 && pdata[5] == M_DEFLATE)
+        {
+            method = M_DEFLATE;
+            u_len = get_le32(pdata + 6);
+            c_len = get_le32(pdata + 10);
+            pdata += 14;
+            assert(14 + c_len == (unsigned) plen);
+        }
+        else
+            throwBadLoader();
+        assert((unsigned) plen < u_len);
+        inputlen = u_len;
+        input = new upx_byte[inputlen + 1];
+        unsigned new_len = u_len;
+        int r = upx_decompress(pdata, c_len, input, &new_len, method, NULL);
+        if (r != 0 || new_len != u_len)
+            throwBadLoader();
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        inputlen = plen;
+        input = new upx_byte[inputlen + 1];
+        memcpy(input, pdata, inputlen);
+    }
+    input[inputlen] = 0; // NUL terminate
 
-    output = new upx_byte[plen];
+    output = new upx_byte[inputlen];
     outputlen = 0;
 
-    int pos = find(input, plen, "Sections:", 9);
+    int pos = find(input, inputlen, "Sections:", 9);
     assert(pos != -1);
     char *psections = (char *) input + pos;