diff --git a/mercurial/localrepo.py b/mercurial/localrepo.py
--- a/mercurial/localrepo.py
+++ b/mercurial/localrepo.py
@@ -3470,7 +3470,9 @@
     compengines = ui.configlist(b'format', b'revlog-compression')
     for compengine in compengines:
         if compengine in util.compengines:
-            break
+            engine = util.compengines[compengine]
+            if engine.available() and engine.revlogheader():
+                break
     else:
         raise error.Abort(
             _(
diff --git a/mercurial/upgrade_utils/actions.py b/mercurial/upgrade_utils/actions.py
--- a/mercurial/upgrade_utils/actions.py
+++ b/mercurial/upgrade_utils/actions.py
@@ -428,7 +428,9 @@
         # return the first valid value as the selection code would do
         for comp in compengines:
             if comp in util.compengines:
-                return comp
+                e = util.compengines[comp]
+                if e.available() and e.revlogheader():
+                    return comp
 
         # no valide compression found lets display it all for clarity
         return b','.join(compengines)