Extant research on the control of IS development projects is largely oriented around control choices and enactments from the perspective of managers, thereby neglecting employees’ legitimacy perceptions. Little is known about how such perceptions affect employees’ intentions to comply with controls. To address this shortcoming, we conducted a factorial survey with 258 IS developers nested in 19 organizations. Our multilevel analysis shows that all four considered legitimacy dimensions are primarily a function of control mode and style, and to a lesser extent of control degree. Moreover, legitimacy operating on fairness and autonomy is an important lever for increasing compliance intentions.