diff --git a/m3u8/httpclient.py b/m3u8/httpclient.py
index 28025c00..a6babad3 100644
--- a/m3u8/httpclient.py
+++ b/m3u8/httpclient.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
+import gzip
 import ssl
 import urllib.request
-
 from urllib.parse import urljoin
 
 
@@ -15,9 +15,15 @@ def download(self, uri, timeout=None, headers={}, verify_ssl=True):
         opener.addheaders = headers.items()
         resource = opener.open(uri, timeout=timeout)
         base_uri = urljoin(resource.geturl(), ".")
-        content = resource.read().decode(
-            resource.headers.get_content_charset(failobj="utf-8")
-        )
+
+        if resource.info().get("Content-Encoding") == "gzip":
+            content = gzip.decompress(resource.read()).decode(
+                resource.headers.get_content_charset(failobj="utf-8")
+            )
+        else:
+            content = resource.read().decode(
+                resource.headers.get_content_charset(failobj="utf-8")
+            )
         return content, base_uri
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_http_client.py b/tests/test_http_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3f1946e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_http_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import gzip
+import unittest
+from http.client import HTTPResponse
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+from m3u8.httpclient import DefaultHTTPClient
+
+
+class MockHeaders:
+    def __init__(self, encoding=None):
+        self.encoding = encoding
+
+    def get_content_charset(self, failobj="utf-8"):
+        return self.encoding or failobj
+
+
+class TestDefaultHTTPClient(unittest.TestCase):
+    @patch("urllib.request.OpenerDirector.open")
+    def test_download_normal_content(self, mock_open):
+        client = DefaultHTTPClient()
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=HTTPResponse)
+        mock_response.read.return_value = b"playlist content"
+        mock_response.info.return_value = {}
+        mock_response.geturl.return_value = "http://example.com/index.m3u8"
+        mock_response.headers = MockHeaders()
+        mock_open.return_value = mock_response
+
+        content, base_uri = client.download("http://example.com/index.m3u8")
+
+        self.assertEqual(content, "playlist content")
+        self.assertEqual(base_uri, "http://example.com/")
+
+    @patch("urllib.request.OpenerDirector.open")
+    def test_download_gzipped_content(self, mock_open):
+        client = DefaultHTTPClient()
+        original_content = "playlist gzipped content"
+        gzipped_content = gzip.compress(original_content.encode("utf-8"))
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=HTTPResponse)
+        mock_response.read.return_value = gzipped_content
+        mock_response.info.return_value = {"Content-Encoding": "gzip"}
+        mock_response.geturl.return_value = "http://example.com/index.m3u8"
+        mock_response.headers = MockHeaders("utf-8")
+        mock_open.return_value = mock_response
+
+        content, base_uri = client.download("http://example.com/index.m3u8")
+
+        self.assertEqual(content, original_content)
+        self.assertEqual(base_uri, "http://example.com/")
+
+    @patch("urllib.request.OpenerDirector.open")
+    def test_download_with_proxy(self, mock_open):
+        client = DefaultHTTPClient(proxies={"http": "http://proxy.example.com"})
+        mock_response = Mock(spec=HTTPResponse)
+        mock_response.read.return_value = b"playlist proxied content"
+        mock_response.info.return_value = {}
+        mock_response.geturl.return_value = "http://example.com/index.m3u8"
+        mock_response.headers = MockHeaders()
+        mock_open.return_value = mock_response
+
+        content, base_uri = client.download("http://example.com/index.m3u8")
+
+        self.assertEqual(content, "playlist proxied content")
+        self.assertEqual(base_uri, "http://example.com/")