diff --git a/config/configcompression/compressiontype.go b/config/configcompression/compressiontype.go
index 820c85be983..53c5030e81c 100644
--- a/config/configcompression/compressiontype.go
+++ b/config/configcompression/compressiontype.go
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ func (ct *Type) UnmarshalText(in []byte) error {
 }
 
 // IsZstd returns true if the compression type is zstd.
+// The specified compression level is not validated.
+// Because zstd supports returning an encoder level that closest matches the compression ratio of a specific zstd compression level.
+// Many input values will provide the same compression level.
 func (ct *Type) IsZstd() bool {
 	parts := strings.Split(string(*ct), "/")
 	return parts[0] == string(TypeZstd)
@@ -68,6 +71,7 @@ func (ct *Type) IsGzip() bool {
 				levelStr == zlib.NoCompression {
 				return true
 			}
+			return false
 		}
 		return true
 	}
@@ -90,6 +94,7 @@ func (ct *Type) IsZlib() bool {
 				levelStr == zlib.NoCompression {
 				return true
 			}
+			return false
 		}
 		return true
 	}
diff --git a/config/configcompression/compressiontype_test.go b/config/configcompression/compressiontype_test.go
index cf8166d5a24..0fc7c3e8a40 100644
--- a/config/configcompression/compressiontype_test.go
+++ b/config/configcompression/compressiontype_test.go
@@ -78,3 +78,116 @@ func TestUnmarshalText(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestIsZstd(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    Type
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "ValidZstd",
+			input:    TypeZstd,
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidZstd",
+			input:    TypeGzip,
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "ValidZstdLevel",
+			input:    "zstd/11",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "ValidZstdLevel",
+			input:    "zstd/One",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, tt.input.IsZstd())
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsGzip(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    Type
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "ValidGzip",
+			input:    TypeGzip,
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidGzip",
+			input:    TypeZlib,
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "ValidZlibCompressionLevel",
+			input:    "gzip/1",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidZlibCompressionLevel",
+			input:    "gzip/10",
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidZlibCompressionLevel",
+			input:    "gzip/one",
+			expected: false,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, tt.input.IsGzip())
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsZlib(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    Type
+		expected bool
+		err      bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "ValidZlib",
+			input:    TypeZlib,
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidZlib",
+			input:    TypeGzip,
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "ValidZlibCompressionLevel",
+			input:    "zlib/1",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidZlibCompressionLevel",
+			input:    "zlib/10",
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "InvalidZlibCompressionLevel",
+			input:    "zlib/one",
+			expected: false,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, tt.input.IsZlib())
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/config/confighttp/compression_test.go b/config/confighttp/compression_test.go
index 89fd471c04c..680156f0373 100644
--- a/config/confighttp/compression_test.go
+++ b/config/confighttp/compression_test.go
@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@ func TestHTTPClientCompression(t *testing.T) {
 			reqBody:     compressedZstdBody.Bytes(),
 			shouldError: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name:        "InvalidZlib",
+			encoding:    "zlib/one",
+			reqBody:     compressedZstdBody.Bytes(),
+			shouldError: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "InvalidSnappy",
+			encoding:    "snappy/1",
+			reqBody:     compressedZstdBody.Bytes(),
+			shouldError: true,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -108,13 +120,13 @@ func TestHTTPClientCompression(t *testing.T) {
 				Compression: tt.encoding,
 			}
 			client, err := clientSettings.ToClient(context.Background(), componenttest.NewNopHost(), componenttest.NewNopTelemetrySettings())
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-			res, err := client.Do(req)
 			if tt.shouldError {
 				assert.Error(t, err)
 				return
 			}
 			require.NoError(t, err)
+			res, err := client.Do(req)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			_, err = io.ReadAll(res.Body)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/config/confighttp/confighttp.go b/config/confighttp/confighttp.go
index 846728b815e..f963fa0390e 100644
--- a/config/confighttp/confighttp.go
+++ b/config/confighttp/confighttp.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zlib"
 	"github.com/rs/cors"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
@@ -134,11 +135,11 @@ func NewDefaultClientConfig() ClientConfig {
 	}
 }
 
-func setCompression(compressionField configcompression.Type) (compressionType configcompression.Type, compressionLevel int) {
+// Gets the compression type and level from the configuration.
+func getCompression(compressionField configcompression.Type) (compressionType configcompression.Type, compressionLevel int) {
 	parts := strings.Split(string(compressionField), "/")
 
-	// Set compression type
-	compressionLevel = 1
+	compressionLevel = zlib.DefaultCompression
 	compressionType = configcompression.Type(parts[0])
 	if len(parts) > 1 {
 		levelStr := parts[1]
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ func (hcs *ClientConfig) ToClient(ctx context.Context, host component.Host, sett
 	// Supporting gzip, zlib, deflate, snappy, and zstd; none is treated as uncompressed.
 	if hcs.Compression.IsCompressed() {
 		if hcs.Compression.IsZstd() || hcs.Compression.IsGzip() || hcs.Compression.IsZlib() {
-			compressionType, compressionLevel := setCompression(hcs.Compression)
+			compressionType, compressionLevel := getCompression(hcs.Compression)
 			compression := CompressionOptions{compressionType, compressionLevel}
 			clientTransport, err = newCompressRoundTripper(clientTransport, compression)
 			if err != nil {