diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6906d7da41..565858fa6f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ We use *breaking* word for marking changes that are not backward compatible (rel
 ## Unreleased
 
 - [#1969](https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos/pull/1969) Sidecar: allow setting http connection pool size via flags
+- [#1967](https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos/issues/1967) Receive: Allow local TSDB compaction
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/cmd/thanos/receive.go b/cmd/thanos/receive.go
index f7f412800e..c55d328364 100644
--- a/cmd/thanos/receive.go
+++ b/cmd/thanos/receive.go
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ func registerReceive(m map[string]setupFunc, app *kingpin.Application) {
 
 	replicationFactor := cmd.Flag("receive.replication-factor", "How many times to replicate incoming write requests.").Default("1").Uint64()
 
-	tsdbBlockDuration := modelDuration(cmd.Flag("tsdb.block-duration", "Duration for local TSDB blocks").Default("2h").Hidden())
+	tsdbMinBlockDuration := modelDuration(cmd.Flag("tsdb.min-block-duration", "Min duration for local TSDB blocks").Default("2h").Hidden())
+	tsdbMaxBlockDuration := modelDuration(cmd.Flag("tsdb.max-block-duration", "Max duration for local TSDB blocks").Default("2h").Hidden())
+	ignoreBlockSize := cmd.Flag("shipper.ignore-unequal-block-size", "If true receive will not require min and max block size flags to be set to the same value. Only use this if you want to keep long retention and compaction enabled, as in the worst case it can result in ~2h data loss for your Thanos bucket storage.").Default("false").Hidden().Bool()
 
 	walCompression := cmd.Flag("tsdb.wal-compression", "Compress the tsdb WAL.").Default("true").Bool()
 
@@ -89,8 +91,8 @@ func registerReceive(m map[string]setupFunc, app *kingpin.Application) {
 		}
 
 		tsdbOpts := &tsdb.Options{
-			MinBlockDuration:  *tsdbBlockDuration,
-			MaxBlockDuration:  *tsdbBlockDuration,
+			MinBlockDuration:  *tsdbMinBlockDuration,
+			MaxBlockDuration:  *tsdbMaxBlockDuration,
 			RetentionDuration: *retention,
 			NoLockfile:        true,
 			WALCompression:    *walCompression,
@@ -131,6 +133,7 @@ func registerReceive(m map[string]setupFunc, app *kingpin.Application) {
 			*dataDir,
 			objStoreConfig,
 			tsdbOpts,
+			*ignoreBlockSize,
 			lset,
 			cw,
 			*local,
@@ -165,6 +168,7 @@ func runReceive(
 	dataDir string,
 	objStoreConfig *extflag.PathOrContent,
 	tsdbOpts *tsdb.Options,
+	ignoreBlockSize bool,
 	lset labels.Labels,
 	cw *receive.ConfigWatcher,
 	endpoint string,
@@ -208,6 +212,14 @@ func runReceive(
 		upload = false
 	}
 
+	if upload && tsdbOpts.MinBlockDuration != tsdbOpts.MaxBlockDuration {
+		if !ignoreBlockSize {
+			return errors.Errorf("found that TSDB Max time is %s and Min time is %s. "+
+				"Compaction needs to be disabled (tsdb.min-block-duration = tsdb.max-block-duration)", tsdbOpts.MaxBlockDuration, tsdbOpts.MinBlockDuration)
+		}
+		level.Warn(logger).Log("msg", "flag to ignore min/max block duration flags differing is being used. If the upload of a 2h block fails and a tsdb compaction happens that block may be missing from your Thanos bucket storage.")
+	}
+
 	// Start all components while we wait for TSDB to open but only load
 	// initial config and mark ourselves as ready after it completed.