diff --git a/library/database/mysql_db b/library/database/mysql_db
index 8dbafcca10..9f92992343 100644
--- a/library/database/mysql_db
+++ b/library/database/mysql_db
@@ -124,7 +124,12 @@ def db_dump(module, host, user, password, db_name, target, socket=None):
     else:
         cmd += " --host=%s" % host
     cmd += " %s" % db_name
-    cmd += " > %s" % target
+    if os.path.splitext(target)[-1] == '.gz':
+        cmd = cmd + ' | gzip > ' + target
+    elif os.path.splitext(target)[-1] == '.bz2':
+        cmd = cmd + ' | bzip2 > ' + target
+    else:
+        cmd += " > %s" % target
     rc, stdout, stderr = module.run_command(cmd)
     return rc, stdout, stderr
 
@@ -136,7 +141,12 @@ def db_import(module, host, user, password, db_name, target, socket=None):
     else:
         cmd += " --host=%s" % host
     cmd += " -D %s" % db_name
-    cmd += " < %s" % target
+    if os.path.splitext(target)[-1] == '.gz':
+        cmd = 'gunzip < ' + target + ' | ' + cmd
+    elif os.path.splitext(target)[-1] == '.bz2':
+        cmd = 'bunzip2 < ' + target + ' | ' + cmd
+    else:
+        cmd += " < %s" % target
     rc, stdout, stderr = module.run_command(cmd)
     return rc, stdout, stderr