diff --git a/lib/hls/hls_parser.js b/lib/hls/hls_parser.js
index eec0db5d9b..e18bbe8937 100644
--- a/lib/hls/hls_parser.js
+++ b/lib/hls/hls_parser.js
@@ -928,13 +928,12 @@ shaka.hls.HlsParser = class {
     if (!playlist.segments.length) {
       return defaultBasicInfo;
     }
-    const middleSegmentIdx = Math.trunc((playlist.segments.length - 1) / 2);
-    const middleSegment = playlist.segments[middleSegmentIdx];
-    const middleSegmentUris = shaka.hls.Utils.constructSegmentUris(
+    const firstSegment = playlist.segments[0];
+    const firstSegmentUris = shaka.hls.Utils.constructSegmentUris(
         getUris(),
-        playlist.segments[0].verbatimSegmentUri);
-    const middleSegmentUri = middleSegmentUris[0];
-    const parsedUri = new goog.Uri(middleSegmentUri);
+        firstSegment.verbatimSegmentUri);
+    const firstSegmentUri = firstSegmentUris[0];
+    const parsedUri = new goog.Uri(firstSegmentUri);
     const extension = parsedUri.getPath().split('.').pop();
     const rawMimeType = HlsParser.RAW_FORMATS_TO_MIME_TYPES_[extension];
     if (rawMimeType) {
@@ -946,7 +945,7 @@ shaka.hls.HlsParser = class {
 
     let initData = null;
     const initSegmentRef = this.getInitSegmentReference_(
-        playlist, middleSegment.tags, getUris);
+        playlist, firstSegment.tags, getUris);
     this.mapTagToInitSegmentRefMap_.clear();
     if (initSegmentRef) {
       const initSegmentRequest = shaka.util.Networking.createSegmentRequest(
@@ -961,8 +960,17 @@ shaka.hls.HlsParser = class {
       initData = initResponse.data;
     }
 
-    const segmentRequest = shaka.net.NetworkingEngine.makeRequest(
-        middleSegmentUris, this.config_.retryParameters);
+    let startByte = 0;
+    let endByte = null;
+    const byterangeTag = shaka.hls.Utils.getFirstTagWithName(
+        firstSegment.tags, 'EXT-X-BYTERANGE');
+    if (byterangeTag) {
+      [startByte, endByte] = this.parseByteRange_(
+          /* previousReference= */ null, byterangeTag.value);
+    }
+
+    const segmentRequest = shaka.util.Networking.createSegmentRequest(
+        firstSegmentUris, startByte, endByte, this.config_.retryParameters);
     const type = shaka.net.NetworkingEngine.AdvancedRequestType.MEDIA_SEGMENT;
     const response = await this.makeNetworkRequest_(
         segmentRequest, requestType, {type});