diff --git a/scripts/ci/run-ci-tests.sh b/scripts/ci/run-ci-tests.sh
index f99924fd8..1d46721d0 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/run-ci-tests.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/run-ci-tests.sh
@@ -360,6 +360,13 @@ run_non_shardable_tests() {
 		echo "Skipping hugetlb compression tests"
 	fi
 
+	# Incremental compression parent chains.
+	if criu/criu check --feature compress && criu/criu check --feature mem_dirty_track; then
+		make -C test/others/compression/incremental run
+	else
+		echo "Skipping compression/incremental test"
+	fi
+
 	./test/zdtm.py run -t zdtm/transition/pid_reuse --pre 2 # start time based pid reuse detection
 	./test/zdtm.py run -t zdtm/transition/pidfd_store_sk --rpc --pre 2 # pidfd based pid reuse detection
 
diff --git a/test/others/compression/incremental/.gitignore b/test/others/compression/incremental/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c2b9704b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/others/compression/incremental/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+dump-*/
diff --git a/test/others/compression/incremental/Makefile b/test/others/compression/incremental/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..594edc070
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/others/compression/incremental/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+run:
+	./run.sh
+.PHONY: run
diff --git a/test/others/compression/incremental/image_tool.py b/test/others/compression/incremental/image_tool.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ae7865c1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/others/compression/incremental/image_tool.py
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import sys
+
+import pycriu.images
+
+
+PE_PRESENT = 4
+EXPECTED_REGION_SIZE = 64 * 1024
+
+
+def inventory_compression(directory, mode, version):
+    expected_mode = {"plain": 0, "page": 1, "region": 2}[mode]
+    expected_version = int(version)
+
+    with open(os.path.join(directory, "inventory.img"), "rb") as image:
+        inventory = pycriu.images.load(image)["entries"][0]
+
+    if inventory["img_version"] != expected_version:
+        print(
+            "FAIL: %s inventory version is %s, expected %s"
+            % (directory, inventory["img_version"], expected_version)
+        )
+        return 1
+    if int(inventory.get("compress", 0)) != expected_mode:
+        print(
+            "FAIL: %s inventory compression mode is %s, expected %s"
+            % (directory, inventory.get("compress"), expected_mode)
+        )
+        return 1
+
+    region_size = inventory.get("compress_region_size")
+    if expected_mode == 2:
+        if int(region_size or 0) != EXPECTED_REGION_SIZE:
+            print(
+                "FAIL: %s inventory region size is %s, expected 65536"
+                % (directory, region_size)
+            )
+            return 1
+    elif region_size is not None:
+        print(
+            "FAIL: %s has unexpected compression region size %s"
+            % (directory, region_size)
+        )
+        return 1
+
+    return 0
+
+
+def present_payload(directory, pid):
+    path = os.path.join(directory, "pagemap-%s.img" % pid)
+    with open(path, "rb") as image:
+        entries = pycriu.images.load(image)["entries"][1:]
+
+    if not any(int(entry.get("flags", 0)) & PE_PRESENT for entry in entries):
+        print("FAIL: %s contains no present page payload" % path)
+        return 1
+
+    return 0
+
+
+def toggle_page(directory, pid, address_file):
+    path = os.path.join(directory, "pagemap-%s.img" % pid)
+    if os.path.exists(address_file):
+        with open(address_file) as saved:
+            address = int(saved.read().strip(), 16)
+    else:
+        with open(path, "rb") as image:
+            entries = pycriu.images.load(image)["entries"][1:]
+        present = [
+            entry
+            for entry in entries
+            if int(entry.get("flags", 0)) & PE_PRESENT
+        ]
+        if not present:
+            print("FAIL: no present mapping available to modify in %s" % path)
+            return 1
+        entry = max(present, key=lambda item: int(item.get("nr_pages", 0)))
+        address = int(entry["vaddr"])
+        with open(address_file, "w") as saved:
+            saved.write("%x\n" % address)
+
+    with open("/proc/%s/mem" % pid, "r+b", buffering=0) as memory:
+        value = os.pread(memory.fileno(), 1, address)
+        if len(value) != 1:
+            raise RuntimeError("short read from workload memory")
+        if os.pwrite(memory.fileno(), bytes([value[0] ^ 0xFF]), address) != 1:
+            raise RuntimeError("short write to workload memory")
+
+    return 0
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Inspect incremental compression images and toggle test memory"
+    )
+    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command")
+
+    inventory = subparsers.add_parser("inventory-compression")
+    inventory.add_argument("directory")
+    inventory.add_argument("mode", choices=("plain", "page", "region"))
+    inventory.add_argument("version", type=int)
+
+    payload = subparsers.add_parser("present-payload")
+    payload.add_argument("directory")
+    payload.add_argument("pid")
+
+    toggle = subparsers.add_parser("toggle-page")
+    toggle.add_argument("directory")
+    toggle.add_argument("pid")
+    toggle.add_argument("address_file")
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    if args.command is None:
+        parser.error("a command is required")
+    if args.command == "inventory-compression":
+        return inventory_compression(args.directory, args.mode, args.version)
+    if args.command == "present-payload":
+        return present_payload(args.directory, args.pid)
+    return toggle_page(args.directory, args.pid, args.address_file)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/test/others/compression/incremental/run.sh b/test/others/compression/incremental/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..058c8756c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/others/compression/incremental/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Test incremental checkpoint chains that change compression mode by layer.
+#
+# Exercise both ways of mixing compressed and uncompressed iterative
+# checkpoint images. Readers must use the compression metadata from their
+# own pagemap entries, not from the top image inventory.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# shellcheck source=test/others/env.sh
+source ../../env.sh
+
+function fail {
+	echo "FAIL: $*"
+	exit 1
+}
+
+set -x
+
+CRIU_CMD=("${CRIU}" --no-default-config)
+ZDTM_DIR="../../../zdtm/static"
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)
+IMAGE_TOOL="${SCRIPT_DIR}/image_tool.py"
+PID=""
+
+function cleanup {
+	if [ -n "$PID" ] && kill -0 "$PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+		kill -TERM "$PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+		for _ in $(seq 1 50); do
+			kill -0 "$PID" 2>/dev/null || break
+			sleep 0.1
+		done
+		if kill -0 "$PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+			kill -KILL "$PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+		fi
+	fi
+	rm -rf dump-*
+}
+
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+function start_test {
+	(
+		cd "$ZDTM_DIR" || exit 1
+		make compress_pages00.cleanout
+		make compress_pages00
+		make compress_pages00.pid || exit 1
+	)
+
+	PID=$(cat "$ZDTM_DIR/compress_pages00.pid")
+	kill -0 "$PID" || fail "Test didn't start"
+}
+
+function stop_test {
+	(
+		cd "$ZDTM_DIR" || exit 1
+		make compress_pages00.stop
+		grep PASS compress_pages00.out || exit 1
+	) || fail "$1: memory content verification failed"
+	PID=""
+}
+
+function run_image_tool {
+	PYTHONPATH="${BASE_DIR}/lib${PYTHONPATH:+:${PYTHONPATH}}" \
+		python3 "$IMAGE_TOOL" "$@"
+}
+
+function assert_inventory_compression {
+	local directory="$1"
+	local expected_mode="$2"
+	local expected_version="$3"
+
+	run_image_tool inventory-compression \
+		"$directory" "$expected_mode" "$expected_version"
+}
+
+function assert_present_payload {
+	local directory="$1"
+
+	run_image_tool present-payload "$directory" "$PID"
+}
+
+function toggle_test_page {
+	local directory="$1"
+	local address_file="$2"
+
+	# Pick the largest present mapping from the preceding image. Toggling its
+	# first byte after each pre-dump makes the next layer contain real payload;
+	# the second toggle restores the byte expected by the ZDTM workload.
+	run_image_tool toggle-page "$directory" "$PID" "$address_file"
+}
+
+function validate_compression_mode {
+	local chain_name="$1"
+	local stage="$2"
+	local mode="$3"
+
+	case "$mode" in
+	plain | page | region) ;;
+	*) fail "$chain_name: unknown $stage compression mode $mode" ;;
+	esac
+}
+
+function create_checkpoint_layer {
+	local chain_name="$1"
+	local stage="$2"
+	local operation="$3"
+	local directory="$4"
+	local previous="$5"
+	local compression_mode="$6"
+	local expected_version="$7"
+	local args=("$operation" -D "$directory" -o dump.log -t "$PID" -v4)
+
+	args+=(--track-mem)
+	if [ "$operation" = "pre-dump" ]; then
+		args+=(-R)
+	fi
+	if [ -n "$previous" ]; then
+		args+=(--prev-images-dir="$previous")
+	fi
+
+	case "$compression_mode" in
+	page) args+=(--compress) ;;
+	region) args+=(--compress-region=64K) ;;
+	plain) ;;
+	esac
+
+	echo "=== $chain_name: $stage ==="
+	mkdir "$directory"
+	"${CRIU_CMD[@]}" "${args[@]}" || fail "$chain_name: $stage failed"
+	assert_present_payload "$directory" || \
+		fail "$chain_name: $stage contains no payload"
+	assert_inventory_compression \
+		"$directory" "$compression_mode" "$expected_version" || \
+		fail "$chain_name: $stage inventory compression state is invalid"
+}
+
+function run_chain {
+	local name="$1"
+	local predump_compress="$2"
+	local dump_compress="$3"
+	local imgdir="dump-$name"
+	local parent_version=2
+	local final_version
+
+	validate_compression_mode "$name" "pre-dump" "$predump_compress"
+	validate_compression_mode "$name" "final dump" "$dump_compress"
+
+	if [ "$predump_compress" != "plain" ]; then
+		parent_version=3
+	fi
+
+	final_version=$parent_version
+	if [ "$dump_compress" != "plain" ]; then
+		final_version=3
+	fi
+
+	rm -rf "$imgdir"
+	mkdir "$imgdir"
+
+	start_test
+
+	create_checkpoint_layer "$name" "pre-dump 1" pre-dump \
+		"$imgdir/1/" "" "$predump_compress" "$parent_version"
+	toggle_test_page "$imgdir/1/" "$imgdir/toggle-address" \
+		|| fail "$name: unable to modify workload"
+
+	create_checkpoint_layer "$name" "pre-dump 2" pre-dump \
+		"$imgdir/2/" "../1/" "$predump_compress" "$parent_version"
+	toggle_test_page "$imgdir/2/" "$imgdir/toggle-address" \
+		|| fail "$name: unable to restore workload byte"
+
+	create_checkpoint_layer "$name" "final dump" dump \
+		"$imgdir/3/" "../2/" "$dump_compress" "$final_version"
+
+	echo "=== $name: restore ==="
+	"${CRIU_CMD[@]}" restore -D "$imgdir/3/" -o restore.log -v4 -d \
+		|| fail "$name: restore failed"
+
+	stop_test "$name"
+	rm -rf "$imgdir"
+}
+
+run_chain "plain-parents-compressed-final" plain page
+run_chain "compressed-parents-plain-final" page plain
+run_chain "plain-parents-region-final" plain region
+run_chain "region-parents-plain-final" region plain
+
+echo "Test PASSED"