diff --git a/pywb/utils/loaders.py b/pywb/utils/loaders.py
index b0e78cfb..c5402ba1 100644
--- a/pywb/utils/loaders.py
+++ b/pywb/utils/loaders.py
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ class HttpLoader(BaseLoader):
         Load a file-like reader over http using range requests
         and an optional cookie created via a cookie_maker
         """
-        headers = {}
+        headers = {"Accept-Encoding": "identity"}
         if offset != 0 or length != -1:
             headers['Range'] = BlockLoader._make_range_header(offset, length)