diff --git a/doc/api/zlib.markdown b/doc/api/zlib.markdown
index da20024ca2109f..92f3f5e52c468e 100644
--- a/doc/api/zlib.markdown
+++ b/doc/api/zlib.markdown
@@ -109,6 +109,31 @@ http.createServer((request, response) => {
 }).listen(1337);
 ```
 
+By default, the zlib methods with throw an error when decompressing
+truncated data. However, if it is known that the data is incomplete, or
+the desire is to inspect only the beginning of a compressed file, it is
+possible to suppress the default error handling by changing the flushing
+method that is used to compressed the last chunk of input data:
+
+```js
+// This is a truncated version of the buffer from the above examples
+const buffer = new Buffer('eJzT0yMA', 'base64');
+
+zlib.unzip(buffer, { finishFlush: zlib.Z_SYNC_FLUSH }, (err, buffer) => {
+  if (!err) {
+    console.log(buffer.toString());
+  } else {
+    // handle error
+  }
+});
+```
+
+This will not change the behavior in other error-throwing situations, e.g.
+when the input data has an invalid format. Using this method, it will not be
+possible to determine whether the input ended prematurely or lacks the
+integrity checks, making it necessary to manually check that the
+decompressed result is valid.
+
 ## Memory Usage Tuning
 
 <!--type=misc-->
@@ -231,6 +256,7 @@ Note that some options are only relevant when compressing, and are
 ignored by the decompression classes.
 
 * flush (default: `zlib.Z_NO_FLUSH`)
+* finishFlush (default: `zlib.Z_FINISH`)
 * chunkSize (default: 16*1024)
 * windowBits
 * level (compression only)
diff --git a/lib/zlib.js b/lib/zlib.js
index 79c78ea4a51307..a786a0c9118a56 100644
--- a/lib/zlib.js
+++ b/lib/zlib.js
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ function zlibBufferSync(engine, buffer) {
   if (!(buffer instanceof Buffer))
     throw new TypeError('Not a string or buffer');
 
-  var flushFlag = binding.Z_FINISH;
+  var flushFlag = engine._finishFlushFlag;
 
   return engine._processChunk(buffer, flushFlag);
 }
@@ -282,6 +282,14 @@ function Unzip(opts) {
   Zlib.call(this, opts, binding.UNZIP);
 }
 
+function isValidFlushFlag(flag) {
+  return flag === binding.Z_NO_FLUSH ||
+         flag === binding.Z_PARTIAL_FLUSH ||
+         flag === binding.Z_SYNC_FLUSH ||
+         flag === binding.Z_FULL_FLUSH ||
+         flag === binding.Z_FINISH ||
+         flag === binding.Z_BLOCK;
+}
 
 // the Zlib class they all inherit from
 // This thing manages the queue of requests, and returns
@@ -294,17 +302,16 @@ function Zlib(opts, mode) {
 
   Transform.call(this, opts);
 
-  if (opts.flush) {
-    if (opts.flush !== binding.Z_NO_FLUSH &&
-        opts.flush !== binding.Z_PARTIAL_FLUSH &&
-        opts.flush !== binding.Z_SYNC_FLUSH &&
-        opts.flush !== binding.Z_FULL_FLUSH &&
-        opts.flush !== binding.Z_FINISH &&
-        opts.flush !== binding.Z_BLOCK) {
-      throw new Error('Invalid flush flag: ' + opts.flush);
-    }
+  if (opts.flush && !isValidFlushFlag(opts.flush)) {
+    throw new Error('Invalid flush flag: ' + opts.flush);
   }
+  if (opts.finishFlush && !isValidFlushFlag(opts.finishFlush)) {
+    throw new Error('Invalid flush flag: ' + opts.finishFlush);
+  }
+
   this._flushFlag = opts.flush || binding.Z_NO_FLUSH;
+  this._finishFlushFlag = typeof opts.finishFlush !== 'undefined' ?
+    opts.finishFlush : binding.Z_FINISH;
 
   if (opts.chunkSize) {
     if (opts.chunkSize < exports.Z_MIN_CHUNK ||
@@ -486,12 +493,13 @@ Zlib.prototype._transform = function(chunk, encoding, cb) {
   if (this._closed)
     return cb(new Error('zlib binding closed'));
 
-  // If it's the last chunk, or a final flush, we use the Z_FINISH flush flag.
+  // If it's the last chunk, or a final flush, we use the Z_FINISH flush flag
+  // (or whatever flag was provided using opts.finishFlush).
   // If it's explicitly flushing at some other time, then we use
   // Z_FULL_FLUSH. Otherwise, use Z_NO_FLUSH for maximum compression
   // goodness.
   if (last)
-    flushFlag = binding.Z_FINISH;
+    flushFlag = this._finishFlushFlag;
   else {
     flushFlag = this._flushFlag;
     // once we've flushed the last of the queue, stop flushing and
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-zlib-flush-flags.js b/test/parallel/test-zlib-flush-flags.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..08c79f138b5a58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-zlib-flush-flags.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+'use strict';
+require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const zlib = require('zlib');
+
+assert.doesNotThrow(() => {
+  zlib.createGzip({ flush: zlib.Z_SYNC_FLUSH });
+});
+
+assert.throws(() => {
+  zlib.createGzip({ flush: 'foobar' });
+}, /Invalid flush flag: foobar/);
+
+assert.throws(() => {
+  zlib.createGzip({ flush: 10000 });
+}, /Invalid flush flag: 10000/);
+
+assert.doesNotThrow(() => {
+  zlib.createGzip({ finishFlush: zlib.Z_SYNC_FLUSH });
+});
+
+assert.throws(() => {
+  zlib.createGzip({ finishFlush: 'foobar' });
+}, /Invalid flush flag: foobar/);
+
+assert.throws(() => {
+  zlib.createGzip({ finishFlush: 10000 });
+}, /Invalid flush flag: 10000/);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-zlib-truncated.js b/test/parallel/test-zlib-truncated.js
index 38888b68be7084..1798a2ca974451 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-zlib-truncated.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-zlib-truncated.js
@@ -45,5 +45,22 @@ const inputString = 'ΩΩLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing el'
     zlib[methods.decomp](truncated, function(err, result) {
       assert(/unexpected end of file/.test(err.message));
     });
+
+    const syncFlushOpt = { finishFlush: zlib.Z_SYNC_FLUSH };
+
+    // sync truncated input test, finishFlush = Z_SYNC_FLUSH
+    assert.doesNotThrow(function() {
+      const result = zlib[methods.decompSync](truncated, syncFlushOpt)
+        .toString();
+      assert.equal(result, inputString.substr(0, result.length));
+    });
+
+    // async truncated input test, finishFlush = Z_SYNC_FLUSH
+    zlib[methods.decomp](truncated, syncFlushOpt, function(err, decompressed) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+
+      const result = decompressed.toString();
+      assert.equal(result, inputString.substr(0, result.length));
+    });
   });
 });