diff --git a/history.txt b/history.txt
index 83ae581e0..fdec4fb1d 100644
--- a/history.txt
+++ b/history.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
-2022-03-13 zzz
+2022-03-15 zzz
  * SSU2: Fixes
 
+2022-03-13 zzz
+ * SSU2: Fixes, stubs for relay and peer test (phase 2)
+
 2022-03-12 zzz
  * SSU2: Fixes
  * Tunnels: Reduce build reply timeout
diff --git a/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/RouterVersion.java b/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/RouterVersion.java
index 6a9511fad..f40f9f7a0 100644
--- a/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/RouterVersion.java
+++ b/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/RouterVersion.java
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ public class RouterVersion {
     /** deprecated */
     public final static String ID = "Git";
     public final static String VERSION = CoreVersion.VERSION;
-    public final static long BUILD = 8;
+    public final static long BUILD = 9;
 
     /** for example "-test" */
     public final static String EXTRA = "";
diff --git a/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/transport/udp/PacketBuilder2.java b/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/transport/udp/PacketBuilder2.java
index df52f4ab6..158dbbed2 100644
--- a/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/transport/udp/PacketBuilder2.java
+++ b/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/transport/udp/PacketBuilder2.java
@@ -469,7 +469,9 @@ class PacketBuilder2 {
         if (numFragments * max != info.length)
             numFragments++;
 
-        if (numFragments > 1) {
+        // try to reduce bandwidth and leave room for other blocks by gzipping
+        // if it is large, even if it would strictly fit
+        if (numFragments > 1 || info.length > 1000) {
             byte[] gzipped = DataHelper.compress(info, 0, info.length, DataHelper.MAX_COMPRESSION);
             if (gzipped.length < info.length) {
                 if (_log.shouldWarn())