diff --git a/ports/bare-arm/Makefile b/ports/bare-arm/Makefile
index 800f4093df..72d5f1a277 100644
--- a/ports/bare-arm/Makefile
+++ b/ports/bare-arm/Makefile
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ include ../../py/mkenv.mk
 # qstr definitions (must come before including py.mk)
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # include py core make definitions
 include $(TOP)/py/py.mk
 
diff --git a/ports/cc3200/Makefile b/ports/cc3200/Makefile
index 81531b1084..560fc8e96d 100644
--- a/ports/cc3200/Makefile
+++ b/ports/cc3200/Makefile
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ FLASH_SIZE_LAUNCHXL = 1M
 ifeq ($(BTARGET), application)
 # qstr definitions (must come before including py.mk)
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h $(BUILD)/pins_qstr.h
+
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # include MicroPython make definitions
 include $(TOP)/py/py.mk
 include application.mk
diff --git a/ports/esp32/Makefile b/ports/esp32/Makefile
index 7033a3dd26..7f43f9a879 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/Makefile
+++ b/ports/esp32/Makefile
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h
 QSTR_GLOBAL_DEPENDENCIES = $(BOARD_DIR)/mpconfigboard.h
 QSTR_GLOBAL_REQUIREMENTS = $(SDKCONFIG_H)
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
 MICROPY_PY_USSL = 0
 MICROPY_SSL_AXTLS = 0
 MICROPY_PY_BTREE = 1
diff --git a/ports/esp8266/Makefile b/ports/esp8266/Makefile
index 60eb7c0803..85a04c070a 100644
--- a/ports/esp8266/Makefile
+++ b/ports/esp8266/Makefile
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ include ../../py/mkenv.mk
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h #$(BUILD)/pins_qstr.h
 QSTR_GLOBAL_DEPENDENCIES = $(BOARD_DIR)/mpconfigboard.h
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
 MICROPY_PY_USSL = 1
 MICROPY_SSL_AXTLS = 1
 AXTLS_DEFS_EXTRA = -Dabort=abort_ -DRT_MAX_PLAIN_LENGTH=1024 -DRT_EXTRA=4096
diff --git a/ports/minimal/Makefile b/ports/minimal/Makefile
index d8afa068d8..b44dda7ac8 100644
--- a/ports/minimal/Makefile
+++ b/ports/minimal/Makefile
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ CROSS = 0
 # qstr definitions (must come before including py.mk)
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # include py core make definitions
 include $(TOP)/py/py.mk
 
diff --git a/ports/nrf/Makefile b/ports/nrf/Makefile
index d898559a18..b4d6f59290 100644
--- a/ports/nrf/Makefile
+++ b/ports/nrf/Makefile
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ endif
 # qstr definitions (must come before including py.mk)
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h $(BUILD)/pins_qstr.h
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # include py core make definitions
 include ../../py/py.mk
 
diff --git a/ports/qemu-arm/Makefile b/ports/qemu-arm/Makefile
index f5329fe4d3..9641e24254 100644
--- a/ports/qemu-arm/Makefile
+++ b/ports/qemu-arm/Makefile
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ include ../../py/mkenv.mk
 # qstr definitions (must come before including py.mk)
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # include py core make definitions
 include $(TOP)/py/py.mk
 
diff --git a/ports/stm32/Makefile b/ports/stm32/Makefile
index 7d372f4ae1..38c3491b1c 100644
--- a/ports/stm32/Makefile
+++ b/ports/stm32/Makefile
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ QSTR_GENERATED_HEADERS = $(BUILD)/pins_qstr.h $(BUILD)/modstm_qstr.h
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h $(QSTR_GENERATED_HEADERS)
 QSTR_GLOBAL_DEPENDENCIES = mpconfigboard_common.h $(BOARD_DIR)/mpconfigboard.h $(QSTR_GENERATED_HEADERS)
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # File containing description of content to be frozen into firmware.
 FROZEN_MANIFEST ?= boards/manifest.py
 
diff --git a/ports/teensy/Makefile b/ports/teensy/Makefile
index 769b7e39d7..adfc8d74f8 100644
--- a/ports/teensy/Makefile
+++ b/ports/teensy/Makefile
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ include ../../py/mkenv.mk
 # qstr definitions (must come before including py.mk)
 QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h $(BUILD)/pins_qstr.h
 
+# MicroPython feature configurations
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION ?= 1
+
 # include py core make definitions
 include $(TOP)/py/py.mk
 
diff --git a/ports/unix/variants/coverage/mpconfigvariant.mk b/ports/unix/variants/coverage/mpconfigvariant.mk
index 056a5fd3f1..0bfc4f84ce 100644
--- a/ports/unix/variants/coverage/mpconfigvariant.mk
+++ b/ports/unix/variants/coverage/mpconfigvariant.mk
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ LDFLAGS += -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage
 
 FROZEN_MANIFEST = manifest_coverage.py
 
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION = 1
 MICROPY_VFS_FAT = 1
 MICROPY_VFS_LFS1 = 1
 MICROPY_VFS_LFS2 = 1
diff --git a/ports/unix/variants/dev/mpconfigvariant.mk b/ports/unix/variants/dev/mpconfigvariant.mk
index 751a748f6d..d7067e99cd 100644
--- a/ports/unix/variants/dev/mpconfigvariant.mk
+++ b/ports/unix/variants/dev/mpconfigvariant.mk
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
 PROG ?= micropython-dev
+
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION = 1
diff --git a/ports/unix/variants/minimal/mpconfigvariant.mk b/ports/unix/variants/minimal/mpconfigvariant.mk
index 58ee64f83d..3916c8c9af 100644
--- a/ports/unix/variants/minimal/mpconfigvariant.mk
+++ b/ports/unix/variants/minimal/mpconfigvariant.mk
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ PROG = micropython-minimal
 
 FROZEN_MANIFEST =
 
+MICROPY_ROM_TEXT_COMPRESSION = 1
 MICROPY_PY_BTREE = 0
 MICROPY_PY_FFI = 0
 MICROPY_PY_SOCKET = 0