diff --git a/nvm.sh b/nvm.sh
index 67ef6df..dda7d6e 100644
--- a/nvm.sh
+++ b/nvm.sh
@@ -57,10 +57,18 @@ nvm_has_colors() {
   [ "${NVM_COLORS:--1}" -ge 8 ]
 }
 
+nvm_curl_libz_support() {
+  curl -V | grep "^Features:" | grep -q "libz"
+}
+
 nvm_get_latest() {
   local NVM_LATEST_URL
+  local CURL_COMPRESSED_FLAG
+  if nvm_curl_libz_support; then
+    CURL_COMPRESSED_FLAG="--compressed"
+  fi
   if nvm_has "curl"; then
-    NVM_LATEST_URL="$(curl --compressed -q -w "%{url_effective}\n" -L -s -S http://latest.nvm.sh -o /dev/null)"
+    NVM_LATEST_URL="$(curl "${CURL_COMPRESSED_FLAG:-}" -q -w "%{url_effective}\n" -L -s -S http://latest.nvm.sh -o /dev/null)"
   elif nvm_has "wget"; then
     NVM_LATEST_URL="$(wget http://latest.nvm.sh --server-response -O /dev/null 2>&1 | command awk '/^  Location: /{DEST=$2} END{ print DEST }')"
   else
@@ -75,8 +83,12 @@ nvm_get_latest() {
 }
 
 nvm_download() {
+  local CURL_COMPRESSED_FLAG
+  if nvm_curl_libz_support; then
+    CURL_COMPRESSED_FLAG="--compressed"
+  fi
   if nvm_has "curl"; then
-    curl --compressed -q "$@"
+    curl "${CURL_COMPRESSED_FLAG:-}" -q "$@"
   elif nvm_has "wget"; then
     # Emulate curl with wget
     ARGS=$(nvm_echo "$@" | command sed -e 's/--progress-bar /--progress=bar /' \
@@ -3192,6 +3204,7 @@ nvm() {
         nvm_print_default_alias nvm_print_formatted_alias nvm_resolve_local_alias \
         nvm_sanitize_path nvm_has_colors nvm_process_parameters \
         node_version_has_solaris_binary iojs_version_has_solaris_binary \
+        nvm_curl_libz_support \
         > /dev/null 2>&1
       unset RC_VERSION NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR NVM_DIR \
         NVM_CD_FLAGS NVM_BIN NVM_MAKE_JOBS \
diff --git a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_curl_libz_support b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_curl_libz_support
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..34602be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_curl_libz_support	
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+cleanup() {
+  unset -f curl
+}
+
+die() { cleanup; echo "$@" ; exit 1; }
+
+\. ../../../nvm.sh
+
+curl() {
+    # curl with libz feature
+    if [ $# -ne 1 ] || [ "$1" != "-V" ]; then
+        die "This fake curl only takes one parameter -V"
+    fi
+    echo "
+curl 7.47.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.47.0 GnuTLS/3.4.10 zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.32 librtmp/2.3
+Protocols: dict file ftp ftps gopher http https imap imaps ldap ldaps pop3 pop3s rtmp rtsp smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp
+Features: AsynchDNS IDN IPv6 Largefile GSS-API Kerberos SPNEGO NTLM NTLM_WB SSL libz TLS-SRP UnixSockets"
+}
+
+nvm_curl_libz_support || die "nvm_curl_libz_support should return 0"
+
+unset -f curl
+
+curl() {
+    # curl without libz feature
+    if [ "$#" -ne 1 ] || [ "$1" != "-V" ]; then
+        die "This fake curl only takes one parameter -V"
+    fi
+    echo "
+curl 7.47.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.47.0 GnuTLS/3.4.10 zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.32 librtmp/2.32
+Protocols: dict file ftp ftps gopher http https imap imaps ldap ldaps pop3 pop3s rtmp rtsp smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp
+Features: AsynchDNS IDN IPv6 Largefile GSS-API Kerberos SPNEGO NTLM NTLM_WB SSL TLS-SRP UnixSockets"
+}
+
+! nvm_curl_libz_support || die "nvm_curl_libz_support should return 1"
+
+unset -f curl
diff --git a/test/slow/nvm_get_latest/nvm_get_latest b/test/slow/nvm_get_latest/nvm_get_latest
index 9f2f53c..306d371 100755
--- a/test/slow/nvm_get_latest/nvm_get_latest
+++ b/test/slow/nvm_get_latest/nvm_get_latest
@@ -14,7 +14,12 @@ EXPECTED_CURL_ARGS="--compressed -q -w %{url_effective}\n -L -s -S http://latest
 EXPECTED_WGET_ARGS="http://latest.nvm.sh --server-response -O /dev/null"
 
 curl() {
-  if [ "_$*" != "_$EXPECTED_CURL_ARGS" ]; then
+  if [ $# -eq 1 ] && [ "$1" = "-V" ]; then
+    echo "
+curl 7.47.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.47.0 GnuTLS/3.4.10 zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.32 librtmp/2.3
+Protocols: dict file ftp ftps gopher http https imap imaps ldap ldaps pop3 pop3s rtmp rtsp smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp
+Features: AsynchDNS IDN IPv6 Largefile GSS-API Kerberos SPNEGO NTLM NTLM_WB SSL libz TLS-SRP UnixSockets"
+  elif [ "_$*" != "_$EXPECTED_CURL_ARGS" ]; then
     echo >&2 "expected args ($EXPECTED_CURL_ARGS), got ($*)"
     return 1
   else