diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 61df94c..30f0ee8 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "bdflib"
-version = "0.3.7"
+version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["trivernis <trivernis@gmail.com>"]
 edition = "2018"
 license-file = "LICENSE"
diff --git a/src/io.rs b/src/io.rs
index bff9520..68fc620 100644
--- a/src/io.rs
+++ b/src/io.rs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ pub struct BDFReader {
     pub metadata: Option<MetaChunk>,
     pub lookup_table: Option<HashLookupTable>,
     compressed: bool,
+    thread_manager: ThreadManager<GenericChunk, GenericChunk>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -83,7 +84,6 @@ impl BDFWriter {
     /// If the `compress` parameter is true, each data chunk will be compressed
     /// using lzma with a default level of 1.
     pub fn new(inner: File, entry_count: u64, compress: bool) -> Self {
-        let thread_manager = ThreadManager::new(num_cpus::get());
         Self {
             metadata: MetaChunk::new(entry_count, ENTRIES_PER_CHUNK, compress),
             lookup_table: HashLookupTable::new(HashMap::new()),
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ impl BDFWriter {
             head_written: false,
             compressed: compress,
             compression_level: 1,
-            thread_manager,
+            thread_manager: ThreadManager::new(num_cpus::get()),
         }
     }
 
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ impl BDFReader {
             lookup_table: None,
             reader: BufReader::new(inner),
             compressed: false,
+            thread_manager: ThreadManager::new(num_cpus::get()),
         }
     }
 
@@ -236,12 +237,46 @@ impl BDFReader {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    /// Starts threads for decompressing chunks
+    fn start_threads(&mut self) {
+        for _ in 0..num_cpus::get() {
+            thread::spawn({
+                let r = self.thread_manager.receiver_work.clone();
+                let s = self.thread_manager.sender_result.clone();
+                let wg = self.thread_manager.wg.clone();
+                move || {
+                    for mut chunk in r {
+                        chunk.decompress().expect("failed to decompress chunk");
+                        s.send(chunk).expect("failed to send decompression result");
+                    }
+                    drop(wg);
+                }
+            });
+            if let Err(_) = self.add_compression_chunk() {
+                self.thread_manager.drop_sender();
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Adds a chunk to the decompression channel to be decompressed by a worker thread
+    fn add_compression_chunk(&mut self) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        let gen_chunk = self.next_chunk_raw()?;
+        if gen_chunk.name == DTBL_CHUNK_NAME.to_string() && self.compressed {
+            if let Err(_) = self.thread_manager.sender_work.send(gen_chunk) {
+                return Err(Error::new(ErrorKind::Other, "failed to send chunk data"))
+            }
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Verifies the header of the file and reads and stores the metadata
     pub fn read_metadata(&mut self) -> Result<&MetaChunk, Error> {
         if !self.validate_header() {
             return Err(Error::new(ErrorKind::InvalidData, "invalid BDF Header"));
         }
-        let meta_chunk: MetaChunk = self.next_chunk()?.try_into()?;
+        let meta_chunk: MetaChunk = self.next_chunk_raw()?.try_into()?;
         if let Some(method) = &meta_chunk.compression_method {
             if *method == LZMA.to_string() {
                 self.compressed = true;
@@ -271,9 +306,13 @@ impl BDFReader {
             None => self.read_metadata()?,
             Some(t) => t,
         };
-        let lookup_table: HashLookupTable = self.next_chunk()?.try_into()?;
+        let lookup_table: HashLookupTable = self.next_chunk_raw()?.try_into()?;
         self.lookup_table = Some(lookup_table);
 
+        if self.compressed {
+            self.start_threads();
+        }
+
         if let Some(chunk) = &self.lookup_table {
             Ok(&chunk)
         } else {
@@ -292,8 +331,24 @@ impl BDFReader {
         header == BDF_HDR.as_ref()
     }
 
-    /// Returns the next chunk if one is available.
+    /// Returns the next chunk
     pub fn next_chunk(&mut self) -> Result<GenericChunk, Error> {
+        if self.compressed {
+            if let Err(_) = self.add_compression_chunk() {
+                self.thread_manager.drop_sender();
+            }
+            if let Ok(chunk) = self.thread_manager.receiver_result.recv() {
+                Ok(chunk)
+            } else {
+                Err(Error::new(ErrorKind::Other, "failed to get chunk"))
+            }
+        } else {
+            self.next_chunk_raw()
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the next chunk if one is available.
+    fn next_chunk_raw(&mut self) -> Result<GenericChunk, Error> {
         let mut length_raw = [0u8; 4];
         let _ = self.reader.read_exact(&mut length_raw)?;
         let length = BigEndian::read_u32(&mut length_raw);
@@ -305,17 +360,12 @@ impl BDFReader {
         let mut crc_raw = [0u8; 4];
         let _ = self.reader.read_exact(&mut crc_raw)?;
         let crc = BigEndian::read_u32(&mut crc_raw);
-        let mut gen_chunk = GenericChunk {
+
+        Ok(GenericChunk {
             length,
             name,
             data,
             crc,
-        };
-
-        if gen_chunk.name == DTBL_CHUNK_NAME.to_string() && self.compressed {
-            gen_chunk.decompress()?;
-        }
-
-        Ok(gen_chunk)
+        })
     }
 }