diff --git a/headroom/cli/proxy.py b/headroom/cli/proxy.py
index 5f7fa0f63..eeaaa4714 100644
--- a/headroom/cli/proxy.py
+++ b/headroom/cli/proxy.py
@@ -426,6 +426,16 @@ def dashboard(port: int, no_open: bool) -> None:
         "Env: HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS=1."
     ),
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--disable-kompress-fallback",
+    is_flag=True,
+    envvar="HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK",
+    help=(
+        "With --disable-kompress, route fall-through content to PASSTHROUGH instead of "
+        "the default KOMPRESS fallback (restores legacy --disable-kompress behaviour). "
+        "Env: HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK=1."
+    ),
+)
 @click.option(
     "--disable-kompress-anthropic/--enable-kompress-anthropic",
     "disable_kompress_anthropic",
@@ -731,6 +741,7 @@ def proxy(
     budget_period: str,
     code_aware_flag: bool | None,
     disable_kompress: bool,
+    disable_kompress_fallback: bool,
     disable_kompress_anthropic: bool | None,
     disable_kompress_openai: bool | None,
     code_graph: bool,
@@ -959,6 +970,7 @@ def proxy(
             in ("true", "1", "yes", "on")
         ),
         disable_kompress=disable_kompress,
+        disable_kompress_fallback=disable_kompress_fallback,
         disable_kompress_anthropic=disable_kompress_anthropic,
         disable_kompress_openai=disable_kompress_openai,
         # Code graph: live file watcher for incremental reindexing
diff --git a/headroom/proxy/models.py b/headroom/proxy/models.py
index 7a76bc9f9..eafaed538 100644
--- a/headroom/proxy/models.py
+++ b/headroom/proxy/models.py
@@ -154,6 +154,13 @@ class ProxyConfig:
     # CLI: --disable-kompress; env: HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS=1.
     disable_kompress: bool = False
 
+    # With disable_kompress, route fall-through content to PASSTHROUGH instead
+    # of the default KOMPRESS fallback strategy. Restores the legacy
+    # --disable-kompress behaviour for callers that relied on it. No effect
+    # unless disable_kompress is also set.
+    # CLI: --disable-kompress-fallback; env: HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK=1.
+    disable_kompress_fallback: bool = False
+
     # Per-provider overrides for `disable_kompress`. None inherits the global
     # value above; True/False force-disable/enable Kompress for that provider's
     # pipeline only (other compressors and all routing/exclusion are unaffected).
diff --git a/headroom/proxy/server.py b/headroom/proxy/server.py
index 610a2a817..fb8181af7 100644
--- a/headroom/proxy/server.py
+++ b/headroom/proxy/server.py
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ from headroom.transforms import (
     CacheAligner,
     CodeAwareCompressor,
     CodeCompressorConfig,
+    CompressionStrategy,
     ContentRouter,
     ContentRouterConfig,
     TransformPipeline,
@@ -626,6 +627,10 @@ class HeadroomProxy(
         )
         if config.disable_kompress:
             router_config.enable_kompress = False
+            # Opt-in restore of the legacy behaviour: send fall-through content
+            # to PASSTHROUGH instead of the default KOMPRESS fallback strategy.
+            if config.disable_kompress_fallback:
+                router_config.fallback_strategy = CompressionStrategy.PASSTHROUGH
         # A non-None exclude_tools replaces DEFAULT_EXCLUDE_TOOLS in
         # ContentRouter, so merge rather than assign.
         if config.exclude_tools:
@@ -2068,6 +2073,7 @@ def create_app(config: ProxyConfig | None = None) -> FastAPI:
                 "cache": config.cache_enabled,
                 "rate_limit": config.rate_limit_enabled,
                 "disable_kompress": config.disable_kompress,
+                "disable_kompress_fallback": config.disable_kompress_fallback,
                 "disable_kompress_anthropic": config.disable_kompress_anthropic,
                 "disable_kompress_openai": config.disable_kompress_openai,
                 "memory": config.memory_enabled,
@@ -3770,6 +3776,7 @@ def _proxy_config_from_env() -> ProxyConfig:
         bedrock_api_url=os.environ.get("BEDROCK_TARGET_API_URL"),
         anyllm_provider=_get_env_str("HEADROOM_ANYLLM_PROVIDER", "openai"),
         disable_kompress=_get_env_bool("HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS", False),
+        disable_kompress_fallback=_get_env_bool("HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK", False),
         disable_kompress_anthropic=_get_env_optional_bool("HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_ANTHROPIC"),
         disable_kompress_openai=_get_env_optional_bool("HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_OPENAI"),
         max_connections=_get_env_int("HEADROOM_MAX_CONNECTIONS", 500),
@@ -4165,6 +4172,15 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
             "Also settable via HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS=1."
         ),
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--disable-kompress-fallback",
+        action="store_true",
+        help=(
+            "With --disable-kompress, route fall-through content to PASSTHROUGH instead of "
+            "the default KOMPRESS fallback (restores legacy --disable-kompress behaviour). "
+            "Also settable via HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK=1."
+        ),
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--disable-kompress-anthropic",
         dest="disable_kompress_anthropic",
@@ -4259,6 +4275,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     cache_enabled = env_cache if not args.no_cache else False
     rate_limit_enabled = env_rate_limit if not args.no_rate_limit else False
     disable_kompress = args.disable_kompress or _get_env_bool("HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS", False)
+    disable_kompress_fallback = args.disable_kompress_fallback or _get_env_bool(
+        "HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK", False
+    )
     disable_kompress_anthropic = (
         args.disable_kompress_anthropic
         if args.disable_kompress_anthropic is not None
@@ -4312,6 +4331,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         log_full_messages=args.log_messages or _get_env_bool("HEADROOM_LOG_MESSAGES", False),
         code_aware_enabled=code_aware_enabled,
         disable_kompress=disable_kompress,
+        disable_kompress_fallback=disable_kompress_fallback,
         disable_kompress_anthropic=disable_kompress_anthropic,
         disable_kompress_openai=disable_kompress_openai,
         # Connection pool settings
diff --git a/tests/test_cli_proxy_env.py b/tests/test_cli_proxy_env.py
index 1ae78b5aa..0e5034586 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli_proxy_env.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli_proxy_env.py
@@ -927,6 +927,15 @@ class TestArgparseBackendValidation:
 
         assert config.disable_kompress is True
 
+    def test_proxy_config_from_env_reads_disable_kompress_fallback(self):
+        """The direct server env path should honor HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK."""
+        from headroom.proxy.server import _proxy_config_from_env
+
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, {"HEADROOM_DISABLE_KOMPRESS_FALLBACK": "1"}):
+            config = _proxy_config_from_env()
+
+        assert config.disable_kompress_fallback is True
+
     def test_argparse_registers_keepalive_expiry_flag(self):
         """The argparse path (python -m headroom.proxy.server) must register
         --keepalive-expiry as a float flag, so it can override the
diff --git a/tests/test_proxy_disable_kompress.py b/tests/test_proxy_disable_kompress.py
index d608b0fbc..c1f3da46e 100644
--- a/tests/test_proxy_disable_kompress.py
+++ b/tests/test_proxy_disable_kompress.py
@@ -49,3 +49,58 @@ def test_disable_kompress_defaults_to_existing_kompress_behavior() -> None:
 
     assert router.config.enable_kompress is True
     assert router.config.fallback_strategy == CompressionStrategy.KOMPRESS
+
+
+def test_health_config_reports_disable_kompress_fallback(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HEADROOM_SKIP_UPSTREAM_CHECK", "1")
+    app = create_app(
+        ProxyConfig(
+            optimize=True,
+            disable_kompress=True,
+            disable_kompress_fallback=True,
+            cache_enabled=False,
+            rate_limit_enabled=False,
+            cost_tracking_enabled=False,
+            log_requests=False,
+        )
+    )
+    with TestClient(app, base_url="http://127.0.0.1", client=("127.0.0.1", 12345)) as client:
+        config = client.get("/health").json()["config"]
+
+    assert config["disable_kompress"] is True
+    assert config["disable_kompress_fallback"] is True
+
+
+def test_disable_kompress_fallback_restores_passthrough() -> None:
+    router = _proxy_router(
+        ProxyConfig(
+            optimize=True,
+            disable_kompress=True,
+            disable_kompress_fallback=True,
+            cache_enabled=False,
+            rate_limit_enabled=False,
+            cost_tracking_enabled=False,
+            log_requests=False,
+        )
+    )
+
+    assert router.config.enable_kompress is False
+    assert router.config.fallback_strategy == CompressionStrategy.PASSTHROUGH
+
+
+def test_disable_kompress_fallback_without_disable_kompress_is_noop() -> None:
+    router = _proxy_router(
+        ProxyConfig(
+            optimize=True,
+            disable_kompress_fallback=True,
+            cache_enabled=False,
+            rate_limit_enabled=False,
+            cost_tracking_enabled=False,
+            log_requests=False,
+        )
+    )
+
+    assert router.config.enable_kompress is True
+    assert router.config.fallback_strategy == CompressionStrategy.KOMPRESS