diff --git a/src/openexr.imageio/exroutput.cpp b/src/openexr.imageio/exroutput.cpp
index e89cb0a528..b644b80209 100644
--- a/src/openexr.imageio/exroutput.cpp
+++ b/src/openexr.imageio/exroutput.cpp
@@ -22,9 +22,6 @@
 #include <OpenEXR/ImfTiledOutputFile.h>
 
 #include "exr_pvt.h"
-#define OPENEXR_CODED_VERSION                                    \
-    (OPENEXR_VERSION_MAJOR * 10000 + OPENEXR_VERSION_MINOR * 100 \
-     + OPENEXR_VERSION_PATCH)
 
 // The way that OpenEXR uses dynamic casting for attributes requires
 // temporarily suspending "hidden" symbol visibility mode.
@@ -734,16 +731,20 @@ OpenEXROutput::spec_to_header(ImageSpec& spec, int subimage,
             || !ispow2(spec.tile_width) || !ispow2(spec.tile_height))) {
         comp = "zip";
     }
-    if (Strutil::istarts_with(comp, "dwa")) {
-        spec.attribute("openexr:dwaCompressionLevel",
-                       qual > 0 ? float(qual) : 45.0f);
-    }
     spec.attribute("compression", comp);
 #if OPENEXR_CODED_VERSION >= 30103
     if (Strutil::istarts_with(comp, "zip")) {
         header.zipCompressionLevel() = (qual >= 1 && qual <= 9) ? qual : 4;
     }
 #endif
+    if (Strutil::istarts_with(comp, "dwa") && qual > 0) {
+        spec.attribute("openexr:dwaCompressionLevel", float(qual));
+                    //    qual > 0 ? float(qual) : 45.0f);
+#if OPENEXR_CODED_VERSION >= 30103
+        // header.dwaCompressionLevel() = qual > 0 ? float(qual) : 45.0f;
+        header.dwaCompressionLevel() = float(qual);
+#endif
+    }
 
     // Default to increasingY line order
     if (!spec.find_attribute("openexr:lineOrder"))