diff --git a/cmd/restic/global.go b/cmd/restic/global.go
index 3e6c5f3a9..5063f7d6b 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/global.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/global.go
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func init() {
 	f.StringVar(&globalOptions.TLSClientCertKeyFilename, "tls-client-cert", "", "path to a `file` containing PEM encoded TLS client certificate and private key")
 	f.BoolVar(&globalOptions.InsecureTLS, "insecure-tls", false, "skip TLS certificate verification when connecting to the repository (insecure)")
 	f.BoolVar(&globalOptions.CleanupCache, "cleanup-cache", false, "auto remove old cache directories")
-	f.Var(&globalOptions.Compression, "compression", "compression mode (only available for repository format version 2), one of (auto|off|max)")
+	f.Var(&globalOptions.Compression, "compression", "compression mode (only available for repository format version 2), one of (auto|off|max) (default: $RESTIC_COMPRESSION)")
 	f.IntVar(&globalOptions.Limits.UploadKb, "limit-upload", 0, "limits uploads to a maximum `rate` in KiB/s. (default: unlimited)")
 	f.IntVar(&globalOptions.Limits.DownloadKb, "limit-download", 0, "limits downloads to a maximum `rate` in KiB/s. (default: unlimited)")
 	f.UintVar(&globalOptions.PackSize, "pack-size", 0, "set target pack `size` in MiB, created pack files may be larger (default: $RESTIC_PACK_SIZE)")
diff --git a/doc/manual_rest.rst b/doc/manual_rest.rst
index 7f812f4e0..6bddd7ea3 100644
--- a/doc/manual_rest.rst
+++ b/doc/manual_rest.rst
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Usage help is available:
           --cacert file                file to load root certificates from (default: use system certificates)
           --cache-dir directory        set the cache directory. (default: use system default cache directory)
           --cleanup-cache              auto remove old cache directories
-          --compression mode           compression mode (only available for repository format version 2), one of (auto|off|max) (default auto)
+          --compression mode           compression mode (only available for repository format version 2), one of (auto|off|max) (default: $RESTIC_COMPRESSION) (default auto)
       -h, --help                       help for restic
           --insecure-tls               skip TLS certificate verification when connecting to the repository (insecure)
           --json                       set output mode to JSON for commands that support it
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ command:
           --cacert file                file to load root certificates from (default: use system certificates)
           --cache-dir directory        set the cache directory. (default: use system default cache directory)
           --cleanup-cache              auto remove old cache directories
-          --compression mode           compression mode (only available for repository format version 2), one of (auto|off|max) (default auto)
+          --compression mode           compression mode (only available for repository format version 2), one of (auto|off|max) (default: $RESTIC_COMPRESSION) (default auto)
           --insecure-tls               skip TLS certificate verification when connecting to the repository (insecure)
           --json                       set output mode to JSON for commands that support it
           --key-hint key               key ID of key to try decrypting first (default: $RESTIC_KEY_HINT)