diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/middleware/vcs.py b/rhodecode/lib/middleware/vcs.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/middleware/vcs.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/middleware/vcs.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.middleware.appenlight
 from rhodecode.lib.middleware.simplegit import SimpleGit, GIT_PROTO_PAT
 from rhodecode.lib.middleware.simplehg import SimpleHg
 from rhodecode.lib.middleware.simplesvn import SimpleSvn
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str
 from rhodecode.model.settings import VcsSettingsModel
 
 
@@ -108,9 +109,9 @@ class GunzipMiddleware(object):
         self.app = application
 
     def __call__(self, environ, start_response):
-        accepts_encoding_header = environ.get('HTTP_CONTENT_ENCODING', b'')
+        accepts_encoding_header = safe_str(environ.get('HTTP_CONTENT_ENCODING', ''))
 
-        if b'gzip' in accepts_encoding_header:
+        if 'gzip' in accepts_encoding_header:
             log.debug('gzip detected, now running gunzip wrapper')
             wsgi_input = environ['wsgi.input']