diff --git a/include/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter.hpp b/include/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter.hpp
index d53c425d..e73a52cf 100644
--- a/include/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter.hpp
+++ b/include/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter.hpp
@@ -207,13 +207,11 @@ class interleaved_bloom_filter : private seqan::hibf::bit_vector
     interleaved_bloom_filter & operator=(interleaved_bloom_filter &&) noexcept = default; //!< Defaulted.
     ~interleaved_bloom_filter() = default;                                                //!< Defaulted.
 
-    /*!\brief Construct an uncompressed Interleaved Bloom Filter.
+    /*!\brief Construct an Interleaved Bloom Filter.
      * \param bins_ The number of bins.
      * \param size The bitvector size.
      * \param funs The number of hash functions. Default 2. At least 1, at most 5.
      *
-     * \attention This constructor can only be used to construct **uncompressed** Interleaved Bloom Filters.
-     *
      * \details
      *
      * ### Example
@@ -224,8 +222,18 @@ class interleaved_bloom_filter : private seqan::hibf::bit_vector
                              seqan::hibf::bin_size size,
                              seqan::hibf::hash_function_count funs = seqan::hibf::hash_function_count{2u});
 
-    //!\brief Construct from seqan::hibf::config.
-    interleaved_bloom_filter(config & configuration);
+    /*!\brief Construct an Interleaved Bloom Filter.
+     * \param configuration The seqan::hibf::config.
+     * \param max_bin_elements Optional, the maximum number of unique elements in any bin.
+     * \details
+     *
+     * If `max_bin_elements` is not passed, or `max_bin_elements` is 0, the maximum number of unique elements in any bin
+     * will be determined automatically.
+     *
+     * `max_bin_elements` must be the maximum number of unique elements for any bin as evaluated with
+     * `seqan::hibf::config::input_fn`.
+     */
+    interleaved_bloom_filter(config & configuration, size_t const max_bin_elements = 0u);
     //!\}
 
     /*!\name Modifiers
diff --git a/src/interleaved_bloom_filter.cpp b/src/interleaved_bloom_filter.cpp
index f55f686b..195ad487 100644
--- a/src/interleaved_bloom_filter.cpp
+++ b/src/interleaved_bloom_filter.cpp
@@ -43,20 +43,28 @@ interleaved_bloom_filter::interleaved_bloom_filter(seqan::hibf::bin_count bins_,
     resize(technical_bins * bin_size_);
 }
 
-size_t max_bin_size(config & configuration)
+size_t max_bin_size(config & configuration, size_t const max_bin_elements)
 {
     configuration.validate_and_set_defaults();
 
     size_t max_size{};
-    robin_hood::unordered_flat_set<uint64_t> kmers;
-#pragma omp parallel for schedule(dynamic) num_threads(configuration.threads) private(kmers)
-    for (size_t i = 0u; i < configuration.number_of_user_bins; ++i)
+
+    if (max_bin_elements == 0u)
     {
-        kmers.clear();
-        configuration.input_fn(i, insert_iterator{kmers});
+        robin_hood::unordered_flat_set<uint64_t> kmers;
+#pragma omp parallel for schedule(dynamic) num_threads(configuration.threads) private(kmers)
+        for (size_t i = 0u; i < configuration.number_of_user_bins; ++i)
+        {
+            kmers.clear();
+            configuration.input_fn(i, insert_iterator{kmers});
 
 #pragma omp critical
-        max_size = std::max(max_size, kmers.size());
+            max_size = std::max(max_size, kmers.size());
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        max_size = max_bin_elements;
     }
 
     return build::bin_size_in_bits({.fpr = configuration.maximum_fpr, //
@@ -65,9 +73,9 @@ size_t max_bin_size(config & configuration)
 }
 
 // config validation is done by max_bin_size
-interleaved_bloom_filter::interleaved_bloom_filter(config & configuration) :
+interleaved_bloom_filter::interleaved_bloom_filter(config & configuration, size_t const max_bin_elements) :
     interleaved_bloom_filter{seqan::hibf::bin_count{configuration.number_of_user_bins},
-                             seqan::hibf::bin_size{max_bin_size(configuration)},
+                             seqan::hibf::bin_size{max_bin_size(configuration, max_bin_elements)},
                              seqan::hibf::hash_function_count{configuration.number_of_hash_functions}}
 {
     // NOLINTNEXTLINE(clang-analyzer-deadcode.DeadStores)
diff --git a/test/unit/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter_test.cpp b/test/unit/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter_test.cpp
index 145d14bd..9a3d35a8 100644
--- a/test/unit/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter_test.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/hibf/interleaved_bloom_filter_test.cpp
@@ -96,6 +96,34 @@ TEST(ibf_test, construction_from_config)
     EXPECT_RANGE_EQ(agent.bulk_contains(0), expected_v0);
 }
 
+TEST(ibf_test, construction_from_config_with_max_bin_elements)
+{
+    std::vector<std::vector<size_t>> hashes{{1u, 2u, 3u, 4u, 5u, 6u, 7u, 8u, 9u, 10u}, {0u, 2u, 3u, 4u, 5u}};
+    size_t const number_of_ub{hashes.size()};
+
+    seqan::hibf::config ibf_config{.input_fn =
+                                       [&](size_t const num, seqan::hibf::insert_iterator it)
+                                   {
+                                       for (auto const hash : hashes[num])
+                                           it = hash;
+                                   },
+                                   .number_of_user_bins = number_of_ub};
+
+    seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter only_config{ibf_config};
+    seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter default_num_elements{ibf_config, 0u};
+    seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter appropriate_num_elements{ibf_config, 10u};
+    seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter larger_num_elements{ibf_config, 20u};
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(only_config, default_num_elements);
+    EXPECT_EQ(only_config, appropriate_num_elements);
+    EXPECT_NE(only_config, larger_num_elements);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(default_num_elements, appropriate_num_elements);
+    EXPECT_NE(default_num_elements, larger_num_elements);
+
+    EXPECT_NE(appropriate_num_elements, larger_num_elements);
+}
+
 TEST(ibf_test, member_getter)
 {
     seqan::hibf::interleaved_bloom_filter ibf{seqan::hibf::bin_count{64u}, seqan::hibf::bin_size{1024u}};