diff --git a/bgzip.c b/bgzip.c
index 129343fb5..2e887b028 100644
--- a/bgzip.c
+++ b/bgzip.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 #include "htslib/bgzf.h"
 #include "htslib/hts.h"
 #include "htslib/hfile.h"
+#include "hfile_internal.h" // for hfile_set_blksize
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #  define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
@@ -337,6 +338,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
                 return 1;
             }
 
+            // Increase block size to improve throughput on fast filesystems
+            hfile_set_blksize(f_src, 256*1024);
+
             if (write_fname) {
                 if (!exp_out_open) {  // only open this file once for writing, close at the end
                     if ((fp = bgzf_open(write_fname, out_mode)) == NULL) {