diff --git a/compiler-rt/lib/sanitizer_common/sanitizer_stackdepot.cpp b/compiler-rt/lib/sanitizer_common/sanitizer_stackdepot.cpp
--- a/compiler-rt/lib/sanitizer_common/sanitizer_stackdepot.cpp
+++ b/compiler-rt/lib/sanitizer_common/sanitizer_stackdepot.cpp
@@ -72,25 +72,34 @@
   return stackStore.Allocated() + useCounts.MemoryUsage();
 }
 
-static void CompressStackStore() {
+static void *CompressStackStore(void *) {
   u64 start = MonotonicNanoTime();
   uptr diff = stackStore.Pack(static_cast<StackStore::Compression>(
-      common_flags()->compress_stack_depot));
+      Abs(common_flags()->compress_stack_depot)));
   if (!diff)
-    return;
+    return nullptr;
   u64 finish = MonotonicNanoTime();
   uptr total_before = stackStore.Allocated() + diff;
   VPrintf(1, "%s: StackDepot released %zu KiB out of %zu KiB in %llu ms\n",
           SanitizerToolName, diff >> 10, total_before >> 10,
           (finish - start) / 1000000);
+  return nullptr;
 }
 
 void StackDepotNode::store(u32 id, const args_type &args, hash_type hash) {
   stack_hash = hash;
   uptr pack = 0;
   store_id = stackStore.Store(args, &pack);
-  if (pack && common_flags()->compress_stack_depot)
-    CompressStackStore();
+  if (LIKELY(!pack))
+    return;
+  if (!common_flags()->compress_stack_depot)
+    return;
+  constexpr u32 kFallbackToNoThread = 1u << 22;
+  if (id % kFallbackToNoThread != 0 && /* never rely on thread only */
+      common_flags()->compress_stack_depot > 0 /* for testing */ &&
+      internal_start_thread(&CompressStackStore, nullptr))
+    return;
+  CompressStackStore(nullptr);
 }
 
 StackDepotNode::args_type StackDepotNode::load(u32 id) const {
diff --git a/compiler-rt/test/sanitizer_common/TestCases/compress_stack_depot.cpp b/compiler-rt/test/sanitizer_common/TestCases/compress_stack_depot.cpp
--- a/compiler-rt/test/sanitizer_common/TestCases/compress_stack_depot.cpp
+++ b/compiler-rt/test/sanitizer_common/TestCases/compress_stack_depot.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // RUN: %clangxx %s -fsanitize-memory-track-origins=1 -o %t
 // RUN: %env_tool_opts="compress_stack_depot=0:malloc_context_size=128:verbosity=1" %run %t 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --implicit-check-not="StackDepot released"
-// RUN: %env_tool_opts="compress_stack_depot=1:malloc_context_size=128:verbosity=1" %run %t 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefixes=COMPRESS
-// RUN: %env_tool_opts="compress_stack_depot=2:malloc_context_size=128:verbosity=1" %run %t 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefixes=COMPRESS
+// RUN: %env_tool_opts="compress_stack_depot=-1:malloc_context_size=128:verbosity=1" %run %t 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefixes=COMPRESS
+// RUN: %env_tool_opts="compress_stack_depot=-2:malloc_context_size=128:verbosity=1" %run %t 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefixes=COMPRESS
 
 // Ubsan does not store stacks.
 // UNSUPPORTED: ubsan