diff --git a/go/mcap/writer.go b/go/mcap/writer.go
index 3eb4396b5..06cee1a25 100644
--- a/go/mcap/writer.go
+++ b/go/mcap/writer.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"sort"
 
-	"github.com/anacrolix/missinggo/v2/panicif"
 	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 	"github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4"
 )
@@ -414,7 +413,6 @@ func (w *Writer) WriteDataEnd(e *DataEnd) error {
 }
 
 func (w *Writer) uncompressedSize() int {
-	//panicif.NotEq(w.compressedWriter.Size(), int64(w.uncompressed.Len()))
 	return w.uncompressed.Len()
 }
 
@@ -423,17 +421,21 @@ func (w *Writer) flushActiveChunk() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	var c1 bytes.Buffer
-	cw, err := w.newCompressedWriter(&c1)
-	panicif.Err(err)
-	n, err := cw.Write(w.uncompressed.Bytes())
-	panicif.Err(err)
-	panicif.NotEq(n, w.uncompressed.Len())
-	crc := cw.CRC()
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	cw, err := w.newCompressedWriter(&buf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("creating compressed writer: %w", err)
+	}
+	_, err = cw.Write(w.uncompressed.Bytes())
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("writing uncompressed data to compressor: %w", err)
+	}
 	err = cw.Close()
-	panicif.Err(err)
-	compressedLen := c1.Len()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("finalizing compressor: %w", err)
+	}
 
+	compressedLen := buf.Len()
 	uncompressedLen := w.uncompressedSize()
 	// the "top fields" are all fields of the chunk record except for the compressed records.
 	topFieldsLen := 8 + 8 + 8 + 4 + 4 + len(w.opts.Compression) + 8
@@ -459,14 +461,14 @@ func (w *Writer) flushActiveChunk() error {
 	offset += putUint64(w.msg[offset:], start)
 	offset += putUint64(w.msg[offset:], end)
 	offset += putUint64(w.msg[offset:], uint64(uncompressedLen))
-	offset += putUint32(w.msg[offset:], crc)
+	offset += putUint32(w.msg[offset:], cw.CRC())
 	offset += putPrefixedString(w.msg[offset:], string(w.opts.Compression))
-	offset += putUint64(w.msg[offset:], uint64(c1.Len()))
+	offset += putUint64(w.msg[offset:], uint64(buf.Len()))
 	_, err = w.w.Write(w.msg[:offset])
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	_, err = w.w.Write(c1.Bytes())
+	_, err = w.w.Write(buf.Bytes())
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -750,7 +752,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 type CustomCompressor interface {
-	NewCompressor() ResettableWriteCloser
+	NewCompressor() (ResettableWriteCloser, error)
 	Compression() CompressionFormat
 }
 
@@ -771,8 +773,8 @@ type customCompressor struct {
 	compressor  func() (ResettableWriteCloser, error)
 }
 
-func (c *customCompressor) Compressor() ResettableWriteCloser {
-	return c.compressor
+func (c *customCompressor) NewCompressor() (ResettableWriteCloser, error) {
+	return c.compressor()
 }
 
 func (c *customCompressor) Compression() CompressionFormat {
@@ -865,11 +867,7 @@ func encoderLevelFromZstd(level CompressionLevel) zstd.EncoderLevel {
 	}
 }
 
-func (w *Writer) newCompressedWriter(compressed *bytes.Buffer) (compressedWriter *countingCRCWriter, err error) {
-	opts := w.opts
-	if !opts.Chunked {
-		panic("this should never get called when chunking isn't enabled")
-	}
+func newCompressor(compressed *bytes.Buffer, opts *WriterOptions) (ResettableWriteCloser, error) {
 	switch {
 	case opts.Compressor != nil: // must be top
 		// override the compression option. We can't check for a mismatch here
@@ -878,27 +876,37 @@ func (w *Writer) newCompressedWriter(compressed *bytes.Buffer) (compressedWriter
 		if opts.Compressor.Compression() == "" {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("custom compressor requires compression format")
 		}
-		c := opts.Compressor.NewCompressor()
-		c.Reset(compressed)
-		compressedWriter = newCountingCRCWriter(c, opts.IncludeCRC)
-	case opts.Compression == CompressionZSTD:
-		level := encoderLevelFromZstd(opts.CompressionLevel)
-		zw, err := zstd.NewWriter(compressed, zstd.WithEncoderLevel(level))
+		c, err := opts.Compressor.NewCompressor()
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		compressedWriter = newCountingCRCWriter(zw, opts.IncludeCRC)
+		c.Reset(compressed)
+		return c, nil
+	case opts.Compression == CompressionZSTD:
+		level := encoderLevelFromZstd(opts.CompressionLevel)
+		return zstd.NewWriter(compressed, zstd.WithEncoderLevel(level))
 	case opts.Compression == CompressionLZ4:
 		level := encoderLevelFromLZ4(opts.CompressionLevel)
 		lzw := lz4.NewWriter(compressed)
 		_ = lzw.Apply(lz4.CompressionLevelOption(level))
-		compressedWriter = newCountingCRCWriter(lzw, opts.IncludeCRC)
+		return lzw, nil
 	case opts.Compression == CompressionNone:
-		compressedWriter = newCountingCRCWriter(bufCloser{compressed}, opts.IncludeCRC)
+		return newCountingCRCWriter(bufCloser{compressed}, opts.IncludeCRC), nil
 	default:
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported compression")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported compression: %v", opts.Compression)
+	}
+}
+
+func (w *Writer) newCompressedWriter(compressed *bytes.Buffer) (*countingCRCWriter, error) {
+	opts := w.opts
+	if !opts.Chunked {
+		panic("this should never get called when chunking isn't enabled")
+	}
+	compressor, err := newCompressor(compressed, opts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
-	return
+	return newCountingCRCWriter(compressor, opts.IncludeCRC), nil
 }
 
 // NewWriter returns a new MCAP writer.