diff --git a/unittest/formats/CMakeLists.txt b/unittest/formats/CMakeLists.txt
index 039913ce71..cacbfb83af 100644
--- a/unittest/formats/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/unittest/formats/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ if (PKG_COMPRESS)
     set_tests_properties(DumpCustomGZ PROPERTIES ENVIRONMENT "LAMMPS_POTENTIALS=${LAMMPS_POTENTIALS_DIR}")
     set_tests_properties(DumpCustomGZ PROPERTIES ENVIRONMENT "GZIP_BINARY=${GZIP_BINARY}")
 
+    add_executable(test_dump_cfg_gz test_dump_cfg_gz.cpp)
+    target_link_libraries(test_dump_cfg_gz PRIVATE lammps GTest::GMock GTest::GTest)
+    add_test(NAME DumpCfgGZ COMMAND test_dump_cfg_gz WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
+    set_tests_properties(DumpCfgGZ PROPERTIES ENVIRONMENT "LAMMPS_POTENTIALS=${LAMMPS_POTENTIALS_DIR}")
+    set_tests_properties(DumpCfgGZ PROPERTIES ENVIRONMENT "GZIP_BINARY=${GZIP_BINARY}")
+
     find_program(ZSTD_BINARY NAMES zstd)
 
     if (ZSTD_BINARY)
diff --git a/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg.cpp b/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg.cpp
index 2bf6be259d..8096bf1913 100644
--- a/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg.cpp
+++ b/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg.cpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, invalid_options)
 
 TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, require_multifile)
 {
-    auto dump_file = "dump_melt_run.cfg";
+    auto dump_file = "dump.melt.cfg_run.cfg";
     auto fields = "mass type xs ys zs id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz xu yu zu xsu ysu zsu vx vy vz fx fy fz";
 
     if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::CaptureStdout();
@@ -60,58 +60,58 @@ TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, require_multifile)
 
 TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, run0)
 {
-    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_run*.melt";
+    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_run*.melt.cfg";
     auto fields = "mass type xs ys zs id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz vx vy vz fx fy fz";
 
     generate_dump(dump_file, fields, "", 0);
 
-    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_run0.melt");
-    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_run0.melt");
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_run0.melt.cfg");
+    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_run0.melt.cfg");
     ASSERT_EQ(lines.size(), 124);
     ASSERT_THAT(lines[0], Eq("Number of particles = 32"));
-    delete_file("dump_cfg_run0.melt");
+    delete_file("dump_cfg_run0.melt.cfg");
 }
 
 TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, unwrap_run0)
 {
-    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_unwrap_run*.melt";
+    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_unwrap_run*.melt.cfg";
     auto fields = "mass type xsu ysu zsu id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz vx vy vz fx fy fz";
 
     generate_dump(dump_file, fields, "", 0);
 
-    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_unwrap_run0.melt");
-    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_unwrap_run0.melt");
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_unwrap_run0.melt.cfg");
+    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_unwrap_run0.melt.cfg");
     ASSERT_EQ(lines.size(), 124);
     ASSERT_THAT(lines[0], Eq("Number of particles = 32"));
-    delete_file("dump_cfg_unwrap_run0.melt");
+    delete_file("dump_cfg_unwrap_run0.melt.cfg");
 }
 
 TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, no_buffer_run0)
 {
-    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_no_buffer_run*.melt";
+    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_no_buffer_run*.melt.cfg";
     auto fields = "mass type xsu ysu zsu id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz vx vy vz fx fy fz";
 
     generate_dump(dump_file, fields, "buffer no", 0);
 
-    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_no_buffer_run0.melt");
-    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_no_buffer_run0.melt");
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_no_buffer_run0.melt.cfg");
+    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_no_buffer_run0.melt.cfg");
     ASSERT_EQ(lines.size(), 124);
     ASSERT_THAT(lines[0], Eq("Number of particles = 32"));
-    delete_file("dump_cfg_no_buffer_run0.melt");
+    delete_file("dump_cfg_no_buffer_run0.melt.cfg");
 }
 
 TEST_F(DumpCfgTest, no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0)
 {
-    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run*.melt";
+    auto dump_file = "dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run*.melt.cfg";
     auto fields = "mass type xs ys zs id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz vx vy vz fx fy fz";
 
     generate_dump(dump_file, fields, "buffer no", 0);
 
-    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0.melt");
-    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0.melt");
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS("dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0.melt.cfg");
+    auto lines = read_lines("dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0.melt.cfg");
     ASSERT_EQ(lines.size(), 124);
     ASSERT_THAT(lines[0], Eq("Number of particles = 32"));
-    delete_file("dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0.melt");
+    delete_file("dump_cfg_no_unwrap_no_buffer_run0.melt.cfg");
 }
 
 
diff --git a/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg_gz.cpp b/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg_gz.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f04b1db6e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittest/formats/test_dump_cfg_gz.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+   LAMMPS - Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator
+   http://lammps.sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories
+   Steve Plimpton, sjplimp@sandia.gov
+
+   Copyright (2003) Sandia Corporation.  Under the terms of Contract
+   DE-AC04-94AL85000 with Sandia Corporation, the U.S. Government retains
+   certain rights in this software.  This software is distributed under
+   the GNU General Public License.
+
+   See the README file in the top-level LAMMPS directory.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include "gmock/gmock.h"
+#include "fmt/format.h"
+#include "utils.h"
+#include "../testing/core.h"
+#include "../testing/systems/melt.h"
+#include "../testing/utils.h"
+
+char * GZIP_BINARY = nullptr;
+
+using ::testing::Eq;
+
+class DumpCfgGZTest : public MeltTest {
+    std::string dump_style = "cfg";
+public:
+    void generate_text_and_compressed_dump(std::string text_file, std::string compressed_file, std::string compression_style,
+                                           std::string fields, std::string dump_modify_options, int ntimesteps) {
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::CaptureStdout();
+        command(fmt::format("dump id0 all {} 1 {} {}", dump_style, text_file, fields));
+        command(fmt::format("dump id1 all {} 1 {} {}", compression_style, compressed_file, fields));
+
+        if (!dump_modify_options.empty()) {
+            command(fmt::format("dump_modify id0 {}", dump_modify_options));
+            command(fmt::format("dump_modify id1 {}", dump_modify_options));
+        }
+
+        command(fmt::format("run {}", ntimesteps));
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::GetCapturedStdout();
+    }
+
+    std::string convert_compressed_to_text(std::string compressed_file) {
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::CaptureStdout();
+        std::string converted_file = compressed_file.substr(0, compressed_file.find_last_of('.'));
+        std::string cmdline = fmt::format("{} -d -c {} > {}", GZIP_BINARY, compressed_file, converted_file);
+        system(cmdline.c_str());
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::GetCapturedStdout();
+        return converted_file;
+    }
+};
+
+TEST_F(DumpCfgGZTest, compressed_run0)
+{
+    if(!GZIP_BINARY) GTEST_SKIP();
+
+    auto text_files = "dump_cfg_gz_text_run*.melt.cfg";
+    auto compressed_files = "dump_cfg_gz_compressed_run*.melt.cfg.gz";
+    auto text_file = "dump_cfg_gz_text_run0.melt.cfg";
+    auto compressed_file = "dump_cfg_gz_compressed_run0.melt.cfg.gz";
+    auto fields = "mass type xs ys zs id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz vx vy vz fx fy fz";
+
+    generate_text_and_compressed_dump(text_files, compressed_files, "cfg/gz", fields, "", 0);
+
+    TearDown();
+
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS(text_file);
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS(compressed_file);
+
+    auto converted_file = convert_compressed_to_text(compressed_file);
+
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS(converted_file);
+    ASSERT_FILE_EQUAL(text_file, converted_file);
+    delete_file(text_file);
+    delete_file(compressed_file);
+    delete_file(converted_file);
+}
+
+
+TEST_F(DumpCfgGZTest, compressed_unwrap_run0)
+{
+    if(!GZIP_BINARY) GTEST_SKIP();
+
+    auto text_files = "dump_cfg_unwrap_gz_text_run*.melt.cfg";
+    auto compressed_files = "dump_cfg_unwrap_gz_compressed_run*.melt.cfg.gz";
+    auto text_file = "dump_cfg_unwrap_gz_text_run0.melt.cfg";
+    auto compressed_file = "dump_cfg_unwrap_gz_compressed_run0.melt.cfg.gz";
+    auto fields = "mass type xsu ysu zsu id proc procp1 x y z ix iy iz vx vy vz fx fy fz";
+
+    generate_text_and_compressed_dump(text_files, compressed_files, "cfg/gz", fields, "", 0);
+
+    TearDown();
+
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS(text_file);
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS(compressed_file);
+
+    auto converted_file = convert_compressed_to_text(compressed_file);
+
+    ASSERT_FILE_EXISTS(converted_file);
+    ASSERT_FILE_EQUAL(text_file, converted_file);
+    delete_file(text_file);
+    delete_file(compressed_file);
+    delete_file(converted_file);
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
+    ::testing::InitGoogleMock(&argc, argv);
+
+    // handle arguments passed via environment variable
+    if (const char *var = getenv("TEST_ARGS")) {
+        std::vector<std::string> env = utils::split_words(var);
+        for (auto arg : env) {
+            if (arg == "-v") {
+                verbose = true;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    GZIP_BINARY = getenv("GZIP_BINARY");
+
+    if ((argc > 1) && (strcmp(argv[1], "-v") == 0)) verbose = true;
+
+    int rv = RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+    MPI_Finalize();
+    return rv;
+}