diff --git a/google-apis-core/lib/google/apis/core/base_service.rb b/google-apis-core/lib/google/apis/core/base_service.rb
index 38723fc4d07..61fc3f9df5f 100644
--- a/google-apis-core/lib/google/apis/core/base_service.rb
+++ b/google-apis-core/lib/google/apis/core/base_service.rb
@@ -421,6 +421,10 @@ def make_storage_upload_command(method, path, options)
           template = Addressable::Template.new(root_url + upload_path + path)
           command = StorageUploadCommand.new(method, template, client_version: client_version)
           command.options = request_options.merge(options)
+          command.options.header = command.options.header&.dup || {}
+          unless command.options.header.any? { |k, _| k.to_s.casecmp('accept-encoding') == 0 }
+            command.options.header['Accept-Encoding'] = 'gzip'
+          end
           apply_command_defaults(command)
           command
         end
@@ -459,6 +463,10 @@ def make_storage_download_command(method, path, options)
           template = Addressable::Template.new(root_url + base_path + path)
           command = StorageDownloadCommand.new(method, template, client_version: client_version)
           command.options = request_options.merge(options)
+          command.options.header = command.options.header&.dup || {}
+          unless command.options.header.any? { |k, _| k.to_s.casecmp('accept-encoding') == 0 }
+            command.options.header['Accept-Encoding'] = 'gzip'
+          end
           command.query['alt'] = 'media'
           apply_command_defaults(command)
           command
diff --git a/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/service_spec.rb b/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/service_spec.rb
index a4403f6cc3f..6892d3de16f 100644
--- a/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/service_spec.rb
+++ b/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/service_spec.rb
@@ -140,6 +140,10 @@
       end.to raise_error(Google::Apis::UniverseDomainError)
     end
 
+    it 'should not include Accept-Encoding header' do
+      expect(command.options.header&.[]('Accept-Encoding')).to be_nil
+    end
+
     include_examples 'with options'
   end
 
@@ -173,6 +177,10 @@
       expect(command.query).to include('alt' => 'media')
     end
 
+    it 'should not include Accept-Encoding header' do
+      expect(command.options.header&.[]('Accept-Encoding')).to be_nil
+    end
+
     include_examples 'with options'
   end
 
@@ -192,6 +200,10 @@
       expect(command.query).to include('alt' => 'media')
     end
 
+    it 'should include Accept-Encoding header' do
+      expect(command.options.header['Accept-Encoding']).to eq('gzip')
+    end
+
     include_examples 'with options'
   end
 
@@ -207,6 +219,10 @@
       expect(url).to eql 'https://www.googleapis.com/upload/zoo/animals'
     end
 
+    it 'should not include Accept-Encoding header' do
+      expect(command.options.header&.[]('Accept-Encoding')).to be_nil
+    end
+
     include_examples 'with options'
   end
 
@@ -222,6 +238,10 @@
       expect(url).to eql 'https://www.googleapis.com/upload/zoo/animals'
     end
 
+    it 'should include Accept-Encoding header' do
+      expect(command.options.header['Accept-Encoding']).to eq('gzip')
+    end
+
     include_examples 'with options'
   end
 
@@ -263,6 +283,12 @@
         command
         expect(a_request(:put, upload_url)).to have_been_made.twice
       end
+
+      it 'should include an accept-encoding header' do
+        command
+        expect(a_request(:put, upload_url).with { |req| req.headers['Accept-Encoding'] == 'gzip' }).to have_been_made.twice
+      end
+
     end
     context 'not restart resumable upload if upload is completed' do
       before(:example) do
@@ -286,6 +312,11 @@
         command
         expect(a_request(:put, upload_url)).to have_been_made
       end
+
+      it 'should include an accept-encoding header' do
+        command
+        expect(a_request(:put, upload_url).with { |req| req.headers['Accept-Encoding'] == 'gzip' }).to have_been_made
+      end
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_download_spec.rb b/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_download_spec.rb
index 2e28587a781..c60f17da16d 100644
--- a/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_download_spec.rb
+++ b/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_download_spec.rb
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@
               ).to have_been_made
       end
 
+      it 'should include an Accept-Encoding header for media downloads' do
+        command.execute(client)
+        expect(a_request(:get, 'https://www.googleapis.com/zoo/animals')
+          .with { |req| req.headers['Accept-Encoding'].include?('gzip') }).to have_been_made
+      end
+
       it 'should receive content' do
         expect(received).to eql 'Hello world'
       end
diff --git a/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_upload_spec.rb b/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_upload_spec.rb
index 550ba987d3b..ad5e8192665 100644
--- a/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_upload_spec.rb
+++ b/google-apis-core/spec/google/apis/core/storage_upload_spec.rb
@@ -68,6 +68,12 @@
       expect(a_request(:put, 'https://www.googleapis.com/zoo/animals')
         .with(body: 'Hello world')).to have_been_made
     end
+
+    it 'should include an Accept-Encoding header in the outgoing request' do
+      command.execute(client)
+      expect(a_request(:put, 'https://www.googleapis.com/zoo/animals')
+        .with { |req| req.headers['Accept-Encoding'].include?('gzip') }).to have_been_made
+    end
   end
 
   context('with StringIO input') do