diff --git a/modules/TDEMacros.cmake b/modules/TDEMacros.cmake
index d48033c..baa51d1 100644
--- a/modules/TDEMacros.cmake
+++ b/modules/TDEMacros.cmake
@@ -1593,6 +1593,7 @@ macro( tde_create_tarball )
   unset( _files )
   unset( _destination )
   set( _sourcedir "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}" )
+  set( _compression "gzip" )
   set( _var _target )
 
   foreach( _arg ${ARGN} )
@@ -1625,6 +1626,13 @@ macro( tde_create_tarball )
       set( _directive 1 )
     endif( )
 
+    # found directive "COMPRESSION"
+    if( "+${_arg}" STREQUAL "+COMPRESSION" )
+      unset( _compression )
+      set( _var _compression )
+      set( _directive 1 )
+    endif( )
+
     # collect data
     if( _directive )
       unset( _directive )
@@ -1647,6 +1655,39 @@ macro( tde_create_tarball )
     list( APPEND _files_deps "${_sourcedir}/${_file}" )
   endforeach( )
 
+  if( NOT DEFINED TAR_EXECUTABLE )
+    find_program( TAR_EXECUTABLE NAMES tar )
+    if( "${TAR_EXECUTABLE}" STREQUAL "TAR_EXECUTABLE-NOTFOUND" )
+      tde_message_fatal( "tar executable is required but not found on your system" )
+    endif( )
+  endif( )
+
+  if( NOT DEFINED TAR_SETOWNER )
+    execute_process(
+        COMMAND ${TAR_EXECUTABLE} --version
+        OUTPUT_VARIABLE TAR_VERSION
+    )
+    string( REGEX REPLACE "^([^\n]*)\n.*" "\\1" TAR_VERSION "${TAR_VERSION}" )
+    if( "${TAR_VERSION}" MATCHES "GNU *tar" )
+      set( TAR_SETOWNER "--owner=root;--group=root" )
+    elseif( "${TAR_VERSION}" MATCHES "bsd *tar" )
+      set( TAR_SETOWNER "--uname=root;--gname=root" )
+    else( )
+      set( TAR_SETOWNER "" )
+    endif( )
+  endif( )
+
+  if( "${_compression}" STREQUAL "-" )
+    unset( _compression )
+  endif( )
+  if( _compression )
+    if( "${_compression}" STREQUAL "gzip" )
+      set( _compression "-z" )
+    else( )
+      set( _compression "--use-compress-program=\"${_compression}\"" )
+    endif( )
+  endif( )
+
   get_filename_component( _target_path "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_target}" ABSOLUTE )
   file( RELATIVE_PATH _target_path "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}" "${_target_path}" )
   string( REPLACE "/" "+" _target_name "${_target_path}" )
@@ -1654,7 +1695,8 @@ macro( tde_create_tarball )
     DEPENDS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_target}" )
 
   add_custom_command(
-    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E tar "cfz" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_target}" -- ${_files}
+    COMMAND ${TAR_EXECUTABLE} cf ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_target}
+        ${_compression} ${TAR_SETOWNER} -- ${_files}
     WORKING_DIRECTORY "${_sourcedir}"
     OUTPUT  "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${_target}"
     DEPENDS ${_files_deps}