diff --git a/django/middleware/gzip.py b/django/middleware/gzip.py
index a7c74481d0..9b2a5f3d22 100644
--- a/django/middleware/gzip.py
+++ b/django/middleware/gzip.py
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ class GZipMiddleware(object):
     on the Accept-Encoding header.
     """
     def process_response(self, request, response):
+        if response.status_code != 200 or len(response.content) < 200:
+            # Not worth compressing really short responses or 304 status
+            # responses, etc.
+            return response
+
         patch_vary_headers(response, ('Accept-Encoding',))
         
         # Avoid gzipping if we've already got a content-encoding or if the
diff --git a/docs/middleware.txt b/docs/middleware.txt
index 533f1ccede..63ba8c6999 100644
--- a/docs/middleware.txt
+++ b/docs/middleware.txt
@@ -91,6 +91,12 @@ django.middleware.gzip.GZipMiddleware
 Compresses content for browsers that understand gzip compression (all modern
 browsers).
 
+It is suggested to place this first in the middleware list, so that the
+compression of the response content is the last thing that happens. Will not
+compress content bodies less than 200 bytes long, when the response code is
+something other than 200, Javascript files (for IE compatibitility), or
+responses that have the ``Content-Encoding`` header already specified.
+
 django.middleware.http.ConditionalGetMiddleware
 -----------------------------------------------