diff --git a/python/.gitignore b/python/.gitignore
index 68bc17f..d4add73 100644
--- a/python/.gitignore
+++ b/python/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+*.whl
+
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
diff --git a/python/python/async_tiff/_ifd.pyi b/python/python/async_tiff/_ifd.pyi
index 6466dfb..5bf173c 100644
--- a/python/python/async_tiff/_ifd.pyi
+++ b/python/python/async_tiff/_ifd.pyi
@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ class ImageFileDirectory:
     @property
     def bits_per_sample(self) -> list[int]: ...
     @property
-    def compression(self) -> CompressionMethod: ...
+    def compression(self) -> CompressionMethod | int:
+        """Access the compression tag.
+
+        An `int` will be returned if the compression is not one of the values in
+        `CompressionMethod`.
+        """
     @property
     def photometric_interpretation(self) -> PhotometricInterpretation: ...
     @property
diff --git a/python/src/enums.rs b/python/src/enums.rs
index c80fbb4..14656bd 100644
--- a/python/src/enums.rs
+++ b/python/src/enums.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ use async_tiff::tiff::tags::{
     CompressionMethod, PhotometricInterpretation, PlanarConfiguration, Predictor, ResolutionUnit,
     SampleFormat,
 };
-use pyo3::intern;
 use pyo3::prelude::*;
 use pyo3::types::{PyString, PyTuple};
+use pyo3::{intern, IntoPyObjectExt};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
 pub(crate) struct PyCompressionMethod(CompressionMethod);
@@ -136,5 +136,10 @@ fn to_py_enum_variant<'py>(
     value: u16,
 ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, PyAny>> {
     let enums_mod = py.import(intern!(py, "async_tiff.enums"))?;
-    enums_mod.call_method1(enum_name, PyTuple::new(py, vec![value])?)
+    if let Ok(enum_variant) = enums_mod.call_method1(enum_name, PyTuple::new(py, vec![value])?) {
+        Ok(enum_variant)
+    } else {
+        // If the value is not included in the enum, return the integer itself
+        value.into_bound_py_any(py)
+    }
 }