diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index d76289fb..7537802e 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 All changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
+## [7.9.0] - 2020-01-04
+
+(ws send) add option (-x) to disable per message deflate compression
+
 ## [7.8.9] - 2020-01-04
 
 (ws send + receive) handle all message types (ping + pong + fragment) / investigate #140
diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketVersion.h b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketVersion.h
index ffe80e56..f81b539e 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketVersion.h
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketVersion.h
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#define IX_WEBSOCKET_VERSION "7.8.9"
+#define IX_WEBSOCKET_VERSION "7.9.0"
diff --git a/ws/ws.cpp b/ws/ws.cpp
index 789cf672..139539a9 100644
--- a/ws/ws.cpp
+++ b/ws/ws.cpp
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         ->required()
         ->check(CLI::ExistingPath);
     sendApp->add_option("--pidfile", pidfile, "Pid file");
+    sendApp->add_flag("-x", disablePerMessageDeflate, "Disable per message deflate");
     addTLSOptions(sendApp);
 
     CLI::App* receiveApp = app.add_subcommand("receive", "Receive a file");
@@ -359,7 +360,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     }
     else if (app.got_subcommand("send"))
     {
-        ret = ix::ws_send_main(url, path, tlsOptions);
+        ret = ix::ws_send_main(url, path, disablePerMessageDeflate, tlsOptions);
     }
     else if (app.got_subcommand("receive"))
     {
diff --git a/ws/ws.h b/ws/ws.h
index 5d859139..adfc678a 100644
--- a/ws/ws.h
+++ b/ws/ws.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ namespace ix
 
     int ws_send_main(const std::string& url,
                      const std::string& path,
+                     bool disablePerMessageDeflate,
                      const ix::SocketTLSOptions& tlsOptions);
 
     int ws_redis_publish_main(const std::string& hostname,
diff --git a/ws/ws_send.cpp b/ws/ws_send.cpp
index 6360c58d..3e97e3f0 100644
--- a/ws/ws_send.cpp
+++ b/ws/ws_send.cpp
@@ -301,10 +301,11 @@ namespace ix
 
     int ws_send_main(const std::string& url,
                      const std::string& path,
+                     bool disablePerMessageDeflate,
                      const ix::SocketTLSOptions& tlsOptions)
     {
         bool throttle = false;
-        bool enablePerMessageDeflate = false;
+        bool enablePerMessageDeflate = !disablePerMessageDeflate;
 
         wsSend(url, path, enablePerMessageDeflate, throttle, tlsOptions);
         return 0;