diff --git a/src/journal/compress.c b/src/journal/compress.c
index 2bbfc7644a..6e3d350c6f 100644
--- a/src/journal/compress.c
+++ b/src/journal/compress.c
@@ -57,8 +57,10 @@ static int zstd_ret_to_errno(size_t ret) {
 #define ALIGN_8(l) ALIGN_TO(l, sizeof(size_t))
 
 static const char* const object_compressed_table[_OBJECT_COMPRESSED_MAX] = {
-        [OBJECT_COMPRESSED_XZ] = "XZ",
-        [OBJECT_COMPRESSED_LZ4] = "LZ4",
+        [OBJECT_COMPRESSED_XZ]   = "XZ",
+        [OBJECT_COMPRESSED_LZ4]  = "LZ4",
+        /* If we add too many more entries here, it's going to grow quite large (and be mostly sparse), since
+         * the array key is actually a bitmask, not a plain enum */
 };
 
 DEFINE_STRING_TABLE_LOOKUP(object_compressed, int);
diff --git a/src/journal/journal-def.h b/src/journal/journal-def.h
index ff4e71a31b..3f981e4e39 100644
--- a/src/journal/journal-def.h
+++ b/src/journal/journal-def.h
@@ -44,12 +44,12 @@ typedef enum ObjectType {
 
 /* Object flags */
 enum {
-        OBJECT_COMPRESSED_XZ = 1 << 0,
-        OBJECT_COMPRESSED_LZ4 = 1 << 1,
-        _OBJECT_COMPRESSED_MAX
+        OBJECT_COMPRESSED_XZ   = 1 << 0,
+        OBJECT_COMPRESSED_LZ4  = 1 << 1,
+        OBJECT_COMPRESSION_MASK = (OBJECT_COMPRESSED_XZ | OBJECT_COMPRESSED_LZ4),
+        _OBJECT_COMPRESSED_MAX = OBJECT_COMPRESSION_MASK,
 };
 
-#define OBJECT_COMPRESSION_MASK (OBJECT_COMPRESSED_XZ | OBJECT_COMPRESSED_LZ4)
 
 struct ObjectHeader {
         uint8_t type;
@@ -145,8 +145,8 @@ enum {
 
 /* Header flags */
 enum {
-        HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_COMPRESSED_XZ = 1 << 0,
-        HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_COMPRESSED_LZ4 = 1 << 1,
+        HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_COMPRESSED_XZ   = 1 << 0,
+        HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_COMPRESSED_LZ4  = 1 << 1,
 };
 
 #define HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_ANY (HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_COMPRESSED_XZ|HEADER_INCOMPATIBLE_COMPRESSED_LZ4)
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ enum {
 #endif
 
 enum {
-        HEADER_COMPATIBLE_SEALED = 1
+        HEADER_COMPATIBLE_SEALED = 1 << 0,
 };
 
 #define HEADER_COMPATIBLE_ANY HEADER_COMPATIBLE_SEALED