diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d8e740bd..6e83f33a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ asan: clean
 	$(MAKE) test CC=clang MOREFLAGS="-g -fsanitize=address"
 
 msan: clean
-	$(MAKE) test CC=clang MOREFLAGS="-g -fsanitize=memory"   # datagen.c used to fail this test for no obvious reason
+	$(MAKE) test CC=clang MOREFLAGS="-g -fsanitize=memory -fno-omit-frame-pointer"   # datagen.c fails this test for no obvious reason
 
 asan32: clean
 	$(MAKE) -C $(PRGDIR) test32 CC=clang MOREFLAGS="-g -fsanitize=address"
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 5e46e0a7..20765a3d 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 v0.8.1
+Changed : --ultra now enables levels beyond 19
 Changed : -i# now selects benchmark time in second
 Fixed : ZSTD_compress* can now compress > 4 GB in a single pass, reported by Nick Terrell
+Fixed : speed regression on specific patterns (#272)
 
 v0.8.0
 Improved : better speed on clang and gcc -O2, thanks to Eric Biggers
diff --git a/images/Dspeed4.png b/images/Dspeed4.png
index e75091dd..eba485d0 100644
Binary files a/images/Dspeed4.png and b/images/Dspeed4.png differ
diff --git a/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c b/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c
index a18ab446..3416a979 100644
--- a/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c
+++ b/lib/dictBuilder/zdict.c
@@ -611,18 +611,17 @@ static void ZDICT_countEStats(EStats_ress_t esr, ZSTD_parameters params,
             {   const BYTE* codePtr = seqStorePtr->llCode;
                 U32 u;
                 for (u=0; u<nbSeq; u++) litlengthCount[codePtr[u]]++;
-        }   }
+            }
 
-        /* rep offsets */
-        {   const seqDef* const seq = seqStorePtr->sequences;
-            U32 offset1 = seq[0].offset - 3;
-            U32 offset2 = seq[1].offset - 3;
-            if (offset1 >= MAXREPOFFSET) offset1 = 0;
-            if (offset2 >= MAXREPOFFSET) offset2 = 0;
-            repOffsets[offset1] += 3;
-            repOffsets[offset2] += 1;
-        }
-    }
+            if (nbSeq >= 2) { /* rep offsets */
+                const seqDef* const seq = seqStorePtr->sequencesStart;
+                U32 offset1 = seq[0].offset - 3;
+                U32 offset2 = seq[1].offset - 3;
+                if (offset1 >= MAXREPOFFSET) offset1 = 0;
+                if (offset2 >= MAXREPOFFSET) offset2 = 0;
+                repOffsets[offset1] += 3;
+                repOffsets[offset2] += 1;
+    }   }   }
 }
 
 /*
@@ -676,7 +675,7 @@ static size_t ZDICT_analyzeEntropy(void*  dstBuffer, size_t maxDstSize,
     short matchLengthNCount[MaxML+1];
     U32 litLengthCount[MaxLL+1];
     short litLengthNCount[MaxLL+1];
-    U32 repOffset[MAXREPOFFSET] = { 0 };
+    U32 repOffset[MAXREPOFFSET];
     offsetCount_t bestRepOffset[ZSTD_REP_NUM+1];
     EStats_ress_t esr;
     ZSTD_parameters params;
@@ -701,6 +700,7 @@ static size_t ZDICT_analyzeEntropy(void*  dstBuffer, size_t maxDstSize,
     for (u=0; u<=offcodeMax; u++) offcodeCount[u]=1;
     for (u=0; u<=MaxML; u++) matchLengthCount[u]=1;
     for (u=0; u<=MaxLL; u++) litLengthCount[u]=1;
+    memset(repOffset, 0, sizeof(repOffset));
     repOffset[1] = repOffset[4] = repOffset[8] = 1;
     memset(bestRepOffset, 0, sizeof(bestRepOffset));
     if (compressionLevel==0) compressionLevel=g_compressionLevel_default;
diff --git a/programs/playTests.sh b/programs/playTests.sh
index 1fc508f9..70ac35ec 100755
--- a/programs/playTests.sh
+++ b/programs/playTests.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ $ECHO "\n**** simple tests **** "
 $ZSTD -f tmp                      # trivial compression case, creates tmp.zst
 $ZSTD -df tmp.zst                 # trivial decompression case (overwrites tmp)
 $ECHO "test : too large compression level (must fail)"
-$ZSTD -99 tmp && die "too large compression level undetected"
+$ZSTD -99 -f tmp  # too large compression level, automatic sized down
 $ECHO "test : compress to stdout"
 $ZSTD tmp -c > tmpCompressed
 $ZSTD tmp --stdout > tmpCompressed       # long command format
diff --git a/programs/zstdcli.c b/programs/zstdcli.c
index f4fbba53..faf3bb7b 100644
--- a/programs/zstdcli.c
+++ b/programs/zstdcli.c
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
 #  define ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_DEFAULT 3
 #endif
 
+#ifndef ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_MAX
+#  define ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_MAX 19
+#endif
+
 
 /*-************************************
 *  Includes
@@ -88,6 +92,8 @@
 #define MB *(1 <<20)
 #define GB *(1U<<30)
 
+#define DEFAULT_DISPLAY_LEVEL 2
+
 static const char*    g_defaultDictName = "dictionary";
 static const unsigned g_defaultMaxDictSize = 110 KB;
 static const int      g_defaultDictCLevel = 5;
@@ -100,7 +106,7 @@ static const unsigned g_defaultSelectivityLevel = 9;
 #define DISPLAY(...)           fprintf(displayOut, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define DISPLAYLEVEL(l, ...)   if (displayLevel>=l) { DISPLAY(__VA_ARGS__); }
 static FILE* displayOut;
-static unsigned displayLevel = 2;   /* 0 : no display,  1: errors,  2 : + result + interaction + warnings,  3 : + progression,  4 : + information */
+static unsigned displayLevel = DEFAULT_DISPLAY_LEVEL;   /* 0 : no display,  1: errors,  2 : + result + interaction + warnings,  3 : + progression,  4 : + information */
 
 
 /*-************************************
@@ -115,7 +121,7 @@ static int usage(const char* programName)
     DISPLAY( "          with no FILE, or when FILE is - , read standard input\n");
     DISPLAY( "Arguments :\n");
 #ifndef ZSTD_NOCOMPRESS
-    DISPLAY( " -#     : # compression level (1-%u, default:%u) \n", ZSTD_maxCLevel(), ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_DEFAULT);
+    DISPLAY( " -#     : # compression level (1-%u, default:%u) \n", ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_MAX, ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_DEFAULT);
 #endif
 #ifndef ZSTD_NODECOMPRESS
     DISPLAY( " -d     : decompression \n");
@@ -136,14 +142,14 @@ static int usage_advanced(const char* programName)
     DISPLAY( "\n");
     DISPLAY( "Advanced arguments :\n");
     DISPLAY( " -V     : display Version number and exit\n");
-    DISPLAY( " -v     : verbose mode\n");
+    DISPLAY( " -v     : verbose mode; specify multiple times to increase log level (default:%d)\n", DEFAULT_DISPLAY_LEVEL);
     DISPLAY( " -q     : suppress warnings; specify twice to suppress errors too\n");
     DISPLAY( " -c     : force write to standard output, even if it is the console\n");
 #ifdef UTIL_HAS_CREATEFILELIST
     DISPLAY( " -r     : operate recursively on directories\n");
 #endif
 #ifndef ZSTD_NOCOMPRESS
-    DISPLAY( "--ultra : enable ultra modes (requires more memory to decompress)\n");
+    DISPLAY( "--ultra : enable levels beyond %i, up to %i (requires more memory)\n", ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_MAX, ZSTD_maxCLevel());
     DISPLAY( "--no-dictID : don't write dictID into header (dictionary compression)\n");
     DISPLAY( "--[no-]check : integrity check (default:enabled)\n");
 #endif
@@ -215,7 +221,8 @@ int main(int argCount, const char** argv)
         nextArgumentIsOutFileName=0,
         nextArgumentIsMaxDict=0,
         nextArgumentIsDictID=0,
-        nextArgumentIsFile=0;
+        nextArgumentIsFile=0,
+        ultra=0;
     int cLevel = ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_DEFAULT;
     int cLevelLast = 1;
     unsigned recursive = 0;
@@ -268,7 +275,7 @@ int main(int argCount, const char** argv)
             if (!strcmp(argument, "--verbose")) { displayLevel++; continue; }
             if (!strcmp(argument, "--quiet")) { displayLevel--; continue; }
             if (!strcmp(argument, "--stdout")) { forceStdout=1; outFileName=stdoutmark; displayLevel-=(displayLevel==2); continue; }
-            if (!strcmp(argument, "--ultra")) { FIO_setMaxWLog(0); continue; }
+            if (!strcmp(argument, "--ultra")) { ultra=1; FIO_setMaxWLog(0); continue; }
             if (!strcmp(argument, "--check")) { FIO_setChecksumFlag(2); continue; }
             if (!strcmp(argument, "--no-check")) { FIO_setChecksumFlag(0); continue; }
             if (!strcmp(argument, "--no-dictID")) { FIO_setDictIDFlag(0); continue; }
@@ -298,10 +305,7 @@ int main(int argCount, const char** argv)
     #ifndef ZSTD_NOCOMPRESS
                     /* compression Level */
                     if ((*argument>='0') && (*argument<='9')) {
-                        cLevel = readU32FromChar(&argument);
-                        dictCLevel = cLevel;
-                        if (dictCLevel > ZSTD_maxCLevel())
-                            CLEAN_RETURN(badusage(programName));
+                        dictCLevel = cLevel = readU32FromChar(&argument);
                         continue;
                     }
     #endif
@@ -317,7 +321,7 @@ int main(int argCount, const char** argv)
                     case 'd': decode=1; argument++; break;
 
                         /* Force stdout, even if stdout==console */
-                    case 'c': forceStdout=1; outFileName=stdoutmark; displayLevel-=(displayLevel==2); argument++; break;
+                    case 'c': forceStdout=1; outFileName=stdoutmark; argument++; break;
 
                         /* Use file content as dictionary */
                     case 'D': nextEntryIsDictionary = 1; argument++; break;
@@ -488,7 +492,14 @@ int main(int argCount, const char** argv)
         CLEAN_RETURN(filenameIdx);
     }
 
-    /* No warning message in pipe mode (stdin + stdout) or multiple mode */
+    /* check compression level limits */
+    {   int const maxCLevel = ultra ? ZSTD_maxCLevel() : ZSTDCLI_CLEVEL_MAX;
+        if (cLevel > maxCLevel) {
+            DISPLAYLEVEL(2, "Warning : compression level higher than max, reduced to %i \n", maxCLevel);
+            cLevel = maxCLevel;
+    }   }
+
+    /* No warning message in pipe mode (stdin + stdout) or multi-files mode */
     if (!strcmp(filenameTable[0], stdinmark) && outFileName && !strcmp(outFileName,stdoutmark) && (displayLevel==2)) displayLevel=1;
     if ((filenameIdx>1) & (displayLevel==2)) displayLevel=1;