diff --git a/src/journal/compress.c b/src/journal/compress.c
index 1b0c01a8fb..626e079fef 100644
--- a/src/journal/compress.c
+++ b/src/journal/compress.c
@@ -259,10 +259,10 @@ int decompress_blob_lz4(const void *src, uint64_t src_size,
 
 int decompress_blob_zstd(
                 const void *src, uint64_t src_size,
-                void **dst, size_t *dst_alloc_size, size_t* dst_size, size_t dst_max) {
+                void **dst, size_t *dst_alloc_size, size_t *dst_size, size_t dst_max) {
 
 #if HAVE_ZSTD
-        size_t space;
+        uint64_t size;
 
         assert(src);
         assert(src_size > 0);
@@ -271,38 +271,40 @@ int decompress_blob_zstd(
         assert(dst_size);
         assert(*dst_alloc_size == 0 || *dst);
 
-        if (src_size > SIZE_MAX/2) /* Overflow? */
-                return -ENOBUFS;
-        space = src_size * 2;
-        if (dst_max > 0 && space > dst_max)
-                space = dst_max;
+        size = ZSTD_getFrameContentSize(src, src_size);
+        if (IN_SET(size, ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_ERROR, ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_UNKNOWN))
+                return -EBADMSG;
 
-        if (!greedy_realloc(dst, dst_alloc_size, space, 1))
+        if (dst_max > 0 && size > dst_max)
+                size = dst_max;
+        if (size > SIZE_MAX)
+                return -E2BIG;
+
+        if (!(greedy_realloc(dst, dst_alloc_size, MAX(ZSTD_DStreamOutSize(), size), 1)))
                 return -ENOMEM;
 
-        for (;;) {
-                size_t k;
+        _cleanup_(ZSTD_freeDCtxp) ZSTD_DCtx *dctx = ZSTD_createDCtx();
+        if (!dctx)
+                return -ENOMEM;
 
-                k = ZSTD_decompress(*dst, *dst_alloc_size, src, src_size);
-                if (!ZSTD_isError(k)) {
-                        *dst_size = k;
-                        return 0;
-                }
-                if (ZSTD_getErrorCode(k) != ZSTD_error_dstSize_tooSmall)
-                        return zstd_ret_to_errno(k);
+        ZSTD_inBuffer input = {
+                .src = src,
+                .size = src_size,
+        };
+        ZSTD_outBuffer output = {
+                .dst = *dst,
+                .size = *dst_alloc_size,
+        };
 
-                if (dst_max > 0 && space >= dst_max) /* Already at max? */
-                        return -ENOBUFS;
-                if (space > SIZE_MAX / 2) /* Overflow? */
-                        return -ENOBUFS;
-
-                space *= 2;
-                if (dst_max > 0 && space > dst_max)
-                        space = dst_max;
-
-                if (!greedy_realloc(dst, dst_alloc_size, space, 1))
-                        return -ENOMEM;
+        size_t k = ZSTD_decompressStream(dctx, &output, &input);
+        if (ZSTD_isError(k)) {
+                log_debug("ZSTD decoder failed: %s", ZSTD_getErrorName(k));
+                return zstd_ret_to_errno(k);
         }
+        assert(output.pos >= size);
+
+        *dst_size = size;
+        return 0;
 #else
         return -EPROTONOSUPPORT;
 #endif