diff --git a/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.c b/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.c
index b3ea9b820c..79cd41f5b4 100644
--- a/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.c
+++ b/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.c
@@ -107,12 +107,14 @@ enum
   PROP_IRADIO_MODE,
   PROP_TIMEOUT,
   PROP_EXTRA_HEADERS,
-  PROP_SOUP_LOG_LEVEL
+  PROP_SOUP_LOG_LEVEL,
+  PROP_COMPRESS
 };
 
 #define DEFAULT_USER_AGENT           "GStreamer souphttpsrc "
 #define DEFAULT_IRADIO_MODE          TRUE
 #define DEFAULT_SOUP_LOG_LEVEL       SOUP_LOGGER_LOG_NONE
+#define DEFAULT_COMPRESS             FALSE
 
 static void gst_soup_http_src_uri_handler_init (gpointer g_iface,
     gpointer iface_data);
@@ -260,6 +262,21 @@ gst_soup_http_src_class_init (GstSoupHTTPSrcClass * klass)
           SOUP_TYPE_LOGGER_LOG_LEVEL, DEFAULT_SOUP_LOG_LEVEL,
           G_PARAM_READWRITE | G_PARAM_STATIC_STRINGS));
 
+ /**
+   * GstSoupHTTPSrc::compress:
+   *
+   * If set to %TRUE, souphttpsrc will automatically handle gzip
+   * and deflate Content-Encodings. This does not make much difference
+   * and causes more load for normal media files, but makes a real
+   * difference in size for plaintext files.
+   *
+   * Since: 1.4
+   */
+  g_object_class_install_property (gobject_class, PROP_COMPRESS,
+      g_param_spec_boolean ("compress", "Compress",
+          "Allow compressed content encodings",
+          DEFAULT_COMPRESS, G_PARAM_READWRITE | G_PARAM_STATIC_STRINGS));
+
   gst_element_class_add_pad_template (gstelement_class,
       gst_static_pad_template_get (&srctemplate));
 
@@ -458,6 +475,9 @@ gst_soup_http_src_set_property (GObject * object, guint prop_id,
     case PROP_SOUP_LOG_LEVEL:
       src->log_level = g_value_get_enum (value);
       break;
+    case PROP_COMPRESS:
+      src->compress = g_value_get_boolean (value);
+      break;
     default:
       G_OBJECT_WARN_INVALID_PROPERTY_ID (object, prop_id, pspec);
       break;
@@ -522,6 +542,9 @@ gst_soup_http_src_get_property (GObject * object, guint prop_id,
     case PROP_SOUP_LOG_LEVEL:
       g_value_set_enum (value, src->log_level);
       break;
+    case PROP_COMPRESS:
+      g_value_set_boolean (value, src->compress);
+      break;
     default:
       G_OBJECT_WARN_INVALID_PROPERTY_ID (object, prop_id, pspec);
       break;
@@ -722,6 +745,9 @@ gst_soup_http_src_session_open (GstSoupHTTPSrc * src)
   /* Set up logging */
   gst_soup_util_log_setup (src->session, src->log_level, GST_ELEMENT (src));
 
+  if (src->compress)
+    soup_session_add_feature_by_type (src->session, SOUP_TYPE_CONTENT_DECODER);
+
   return TRUE;
 }
 
diff --git a/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.h b/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.h
index 162a016742..3f71f4191e 100644
--- a/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.h
+++ b/ext/soup/gstsouphttpsrc.h
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ struct _GstSoupHTTPSrc {
                                 * decide if an out of range request should be
                                 * handled as an error or EOS when the content
                                 * size is unknown */
-  SoupLoggerLogLevel log_level;/* Soup HTTP session logger level */
 
   /* Shoutcast/icecast metadata extraction handling. */
   gboolean iradio_mode;
@@ -94,6 +93,10 @@ struct _GstSoupHTTPSrc {
 
   GstStructure *extra_headers;
 
+  SoupLoggerLogLevel log_level;/* Soup HTTP session logger level */
+
+  gboolean compress;
+
   guint timeout;
 
   GMutex mutex;