diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-curl.c b/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-curl.c
index d1dab09595..f483a6bbfc 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-curl.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-curl.c
@@ -762,6 +762,9 @@ initiate_next_curl_request (FetcherRequest *req,
       curl_easy_setopt (req->easy, CURLOPT_SSLKEY, self->tls_client_key_path);
     }
 
+  if ((self->config_flags & OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TRANSFER_GZIP) > 0)
+    curl_easy_setopt (req->easy, CURLOPT_ACCEPT_ENCODING, "");
+
   /* We should only speak HTTP; TODO: only enable file if specified */
   curl_easy_setopt (req->easy, CURLOPT_PROTOCOLS, (long)(CURLPROTO_HTTP | CURLPROTO_HTTPS | CURLPROTO_FILE));
   /* Picked the current version in F25 as of 20170127, since
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-soup.c b/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-soup.c
index fdcbea5251..1ca2e7718b 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-soup.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher-soup.c
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ typedef struct {
 
   GVariant *extra_headers;
   int max_outstanding;
+  gboolean transfer_gzip;
 
   /* Our active HTTP requests */
   GHashTable *outstanding;
@@ -553,6 +554,9 @@ ostree_fetcher_session_thread (gpointer data)
                                                           SOUP_SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT, 60,
                                                           NULL);
 
+  if (closure->transfer_gzip)
+    soup_session_add_feature_by_type (closure->session, SOUP_TYPE_CONTENT_DECODER);
+
   /* XXX: Now that we have mirrorlist support, we could make this even smarter
    * by spreading requests across mirrors. */
   g_object_get (closure->session, "max-conns-per-host", &max_conns, NULL);
@@ -663,6 +667,7 @@ _ostree_fetcher_constructed (GObject *object)
   self->thread_closure->ref_count = 1;
   self->thread_closure->main_context = g_main_context_ref (main_context);
   self->thread_closure->running = 1;
+  self->thread_closure->transfer_gzip = (self->config_flags & OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TRANSFER_GZIP) != 0;
   self->thread_closure->tmpdir_dfd = -1;
   self->thread_closure->tmpdir_lock = empty_lockfile;
 
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher.h b/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher.h
index 78b29faeea..16cf3d7d6a 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-fetcher.h
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ struct OstreeFetcherClass
 
 typedef enum {
   OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_NONE = 0,
-  OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TLS_PERMISSIVE = (1 << 0)
+  OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TLS_PERMISSIVE = (1 << 0),
+  OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TRANSFER_GZIP = (1 << 1)
 } OstreeFetcherConfigFlags;
 
 void
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c
index 08692c59ee..751129e63d 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c
@@ -2161,6 +2161,7 @@ _ostree_repo_cache_summary (OstreeRepo        *self,
 static OstreeFetcher *
 _ostree_repo_remote_new_fetcher (OstreeRepo  *self,
                                  const char  *remote_name,
+                                 gboolean     gzip,
                                  GError     **error)
 {
   OstreeFetcher *fetcher = NULL;
@@ -2179,6 +2180,9 @@ _ostree_repo_remote_new_fetcher (OstreeRepo  *self,
   if (tls_permissive)
     fetcher_flags |= OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TLS_PERMISSIVE;
 
+  if (gzip)
+    fetcher_flags |= OSTREE_FETCHER_FLAGS_TRANSFER_GZIP;
+
   fetcher = _ostree_fetcher_new (self->tmp_dir_fd, remote_name, fetcher_flags);
 
   {
@@ -2436,7 +2440,7 @@ repo_remote_fetch_summary (OstreeRepo    *self,
   mainctx = g_main_context_new ();
   g_main_context_push_thread_default (mainctx);
 
-  fetcher = _ostree_repo_remote_new_fetcher (self, name, error);
+  fetcher = _ostree_repo_remote_new_fetcher (self, name, TRUE, error);
   if (fetcher == NULL)
     goto out;
 
@@ -2544,7 +2548,7 @@ static gboolean
 reinitialize_fetcher (OtPullData *pull_data, const char *remote_name, GError **error)
 {
   g_clear_object (&pull_data->fetcher);
-  pull_data->fetcher = _ostree_repo_remote_new_fetcher (pull_data->repo, remote_name, error);
+  pull_data->fetcher = _ostree_repo_remote_new_fetcher (pull_data->repo, remote_name, FALSE, error);
   if (pull_data->fetcher == NULL)
     return FALSE;