diff --git a/include/kernel-build.mk b/include/kernel-build.mk
index 3fdf7efc52..af7c3a8f0b 100644
--- a/include/kernel-build.mk
+++ b/include/kernel-build.mk
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ ifdef CONFIG_COLLECT_KERNEL_DEBUG
 	$(FIND) $(KERNEL_BUILD_DIR)/debug -type f | $(XARGS) $(KERNEL_CROSS)strip --only-keep-debug
 	$(TAR) c -C $(KERNEL_BUILD_DIR) debug \
 		$(if $(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH),--mtime="@$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)") \
-		| bzip2 -c -9 > $(BIN_DIR)/kernel-debug.tar.bz2
+		| zstd -T0 -f -o $(BIN_DIR)/kernel-debug.tar.zst
   endef
 endif