diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index c81e9ea4..026ddf2b 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@
 #  [*help_url*]
 #    (optional) Location where the documentation should point.
 #    Defaults to 'http://docs.openstack.org'.
+#
+#  [*compress_offline*]
+#    (optional) Boolean to enable offline compress of assets.
+#    Defaults to True
 
 class horizon(
   $secret_key,
@@ -108,7 +112,8 @@ class horizon(
   $horizon_key             = undef,
   $horizon_ca              = undef,
   $help_url                = 'http://docs.openstack.org',
-  $local_settings_template = 'horizon/local_settings.py.erb'
+  $local_settings_template = 'horizon/local_settings.py.erb',
+  $compress_offline        = 'True'
 ) {
 
   include horizon::params
diff --git a/spec/classes/horizon_init_spec.rb b/spec/classes/horizon_init_spec.rb
index 725802fa..990a4fd5 100644
--- a/spec/classes/horizon_init_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/horizon_init_spec.rb
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ describe 'horizon' do
           'API_RESULT_LIMIT = 1000',
           "LOGIN_URL = '/horizon/auth/login/'",
           "LOGOUT_URL = '/horizon/auth/logout/'",
-          "LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = '/horizon'"
+          "LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = '/horizon'",
+          'COMPRESS_OFFLINE = True'
         ])
       end
     end
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@ describe 'horizon' do
           :django_debug          => true,
           :api_result_limit      => 4682,
           :can_set_mount_point   => false,
+          :compress_offline      => 'False',
         })
       end
 
@@ -112,7 +114,8 @@ describe 'horizon' do
           'OPENSTACK_KEYSTONE_URL = "https://%s:4682/v2.0" % OPENSTACK_HOST',
           'OPENSTACK_KEYSTONE_DEFAULT_ROLE = "SwiftOperator"',
           "    'can_set_mount_point': False,",
-          'API_RESULT_LIMIT = 4682'
+          'API_RESULT_LIMIT = 4682',
+          'COMPRESS_OFFLINE = False'
         ])
       end
     end
diff --git a/templates/local_settings.py.erb b/templates/local_settings.py.erb
index a2515a6e..fec7a0ff 100644
--- a/templates/local_settings.py.erb
+++ b/templates/local_settings.py.erb
@@ -526,3 +526,8 @@ SECURITY_GROUP_RULES = {
 LOGIN_URL = '<%= scope.lookupvar("horizon::params::root_url") %>/auth/login/'
 LOGOUT_URL = '<%= scope.lookupvar("horizon::params::root_url") %>/auth/logout/'
 LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = '<%= scope.lookupvar("horizon::params::root_url") %>'
+
+# The Ubuntu package includes pre-compressed JS and compiled CSS to allow
+# offline compression by default.  To enable online compression, install
+# the python-lesscpy package and disable the following option.
+COMPRESS_OFFLINE = <%= @compress_offline.to_s.capitalize %>