diff --git a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/CompressionPool.kt b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/CompressionPool.kt
index e70cfd99..fa579cce 100644
--- a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/CompressionPool.kt
+++ b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/CompressionPool.kt
@@ -37,15 +37,15 @@ interface CompressionPool {
 
     /**
      * Compress an outbound request message.
-     * @param buffer: The uncompressed request message.
+     * @param input: The uncompressed request message.
      * @return The compressed request message.
      */
-    fun compress(buffer: Buffer): Buffer
+    fun compress(input: Buffer): Buffer
 
     /**
      * Decompress an inbound response message.
-     * @param buffer: The compressed response message.
+     * @param input: The compressed response message.
      * @return The uncompressed response message.
      */
-    fun decompress(buffer: Buffer): Buffer
+    fun decompress(input: Buffer): Buffer
 }
diff --git a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/GzipCompressionPool.kt b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/GzipCompressionPool.kt
index 74fee5af..86a5ee55 100644
--- a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/GzipCompressionPool.kt
+++ b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/compression/GzipCompressionPool.kt
@@ -28,20 +28,23 @@ object GzipCompressionPool : CompressionPool {
         return "gzip"
     }
 
-    override fun compress(buffer: Buffer): Buffer {
-        val gzippedSink = Buffer()
-        GzipSink(gzippedSink).use { source ->
-            source.write(buffer, buffer.size)
+    override fun compress(input: Buffer): Buffer {
+        val result = Buffer()
+        GzipSink(result).use { gzippedSink ->
+            gzippedSink.write(input, input.size)
         }
-        return gzippedSink
+        return result
     }
 
-    override fun decompress(buffer: Buffer): Buffer {
+    override fun decompress(input: Buffer): Buffer {
         val result = Buffer()
-        if (buffer.size == 0L) return result
+        // We're lenient and will allow an empty payload to be
+        // interpreted as a compressed empty payload (even though
+        // it's missing the gzip format preamble/metadata).
+        if (input.size == 0L) return result
 
-        GzipSource(buffer).use {
-            while (it.read(result, Int.MAX_VALUE.toLong()) != -1L) {
+        GzipSource(input).use { gzippedSource ->
+            while (gzippedSource.read(result, Int.MAX_VALUE.toLong()) != -1L) {
                 // continue reading.
             }
         }
diff --git a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/Envelope.kt b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/Envelope.kt
index 34485af7..479c21f5 100644
--- a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/Envelope.kt
+++ b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/Envelope.kt
@@ -30,26 +30,23 @@ class Envelope {
          * @param compressionMinBytes The minimum bytes the source needs to be in order to be compressed.
          */
         fun pack(source: Buffer, compressionPool: CompressionPool? = null, compressionMinBytes: Int? = null): Buffer {
+            val flags: Int
+            val payload: Buffer
             if (compressionMinBytes == null ||
                 source.size < compressionMinBytes ||
                 compressionPool == null
             ) {
-                return source.use {
-                    val result = Buffer()
-                    result.writeByte(0)
-                    result.writeInt(source.buffer.size.toInt())
-                    result.writeAll(source)
-                    result
-                }
-            }
-            return source.use { buffer ->
-                val result = Buffer()
-                result.writeByte(1)
-                val compressedBuffer = compressionPool.compress(buffer)
-                result.writeInt(compressedBuffer.size.toInt())
-                result.writeAll(compressedBuffer)
-                result
+                flags = 0
+                payload = source
+            } else {
+                flags = 1
+                payload = compressionPool.compress(source)
             }
+            val result = Buffer()
+            result.writeByte(flags)
+            result.writeInt(payload.buffer.size.toInt())
+            result.writeAll(payload)
+            return result
         }
 
         /**
diff --git a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/GRPCInterceptor.kt b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/GRPCInterceptor.kt
index 6efc4623..68f8f8ac 100644
--- a/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/GRPCInterceptor.kt
+++ b/library/src/main/kotlin/com/connectrpc/protocols/GRPCInterceptor.kt
@@ -157,19 +157,29 @@ internal class GRPCInterceptor(
                     onCompletion = { result ->
                         val trailers = result.trailers
                         val completion = completionParser.parse(emptyMap(), trailers)
+                        if (completion == null && result.cause != null) {
+                            // let error result propagate
+                            return@fold result
+                        }
+                        val exception: ConnectException?
                         if (completion != null) {
-                            val exception = completion.toConnectExceptionOrNull(
+                            exception = completion.toConnectExceptionOrNull(
                                 serializationStrategy,
                                 result.cause,
                             )
-                            StreamResult.Complete(
-                                code = exception?.code ?: Code.OK,
-                                cause = exception,
-                                trailers = trailers,
-                            )
                         } else {
-                            result
+                            exception = ConnectException(
+                                code = Code.INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                                errorDetailParser = serializationStrategy.errorDetailParser(),
+                                message = "protocol error: status is missing from trailers",
+                                metadata = trailers,
+                            )
                         }
+                        StreamResult.Complete(
+                            code = exception?.code ?: Code.OK,
+                            cause = exception,
+                            trailers = trailers,
+                        )
                     },
                 )
             },