diff --git lib/net/http/generic_request.rb lib/net/http/generic_request.rb
index 9b7d287..87f8992 100644
--- lib/net/http/generic_request.rb
+++ lib/net/http/generic_request.rb
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class Net::HTTPGenericRequest
         @decode_content = true
         initheader = initheader ? initheader.dup : {}
         initheader["accept-encoding"] =
-          "gzip;q=1.0,deflate;q=0.6,identity;q=0.3"
+          "gzip;q=1.0,identity;q=0.3"
       end
     end
 
@@ -329,4 +329,3 @@ class Net::HTTPGenericRequest
   end
 
 end
-
diff --git lib/net/http/response.rb lib/net/http/response.rb
index 674faf2..8724287 100644
--- lib/net/http/response.rb
+++ lib/net/http/response.rb
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ class Net::HTTPResponse
 
     v = self['content-encoding']
     case v && v.downcase
-    when 'deflate', 'gzip', 'x-gzip' then
+    when 'gzip', 'x-gzip' then
       self.delete 'content-encoding'
 
       inflate_body_io = Inflater.new(@socket)
@@ -412,4 +412,3 @@ class Net::HTTPResponse
   end
 
 end
-
diff --git test/net/http/test_http_request.rb test/net/http/test_http_request.rb
index 1dcb847..84038d8 100644
--- test/net/http/test_http_request.rb
+++ test/net/http/test_http_request.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class HTTPRequestTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       'user-agent' => %w[Ruby],
     }
 
-    expected['accept-encoding'] = %w[gzip;q=1.0,deflate;q=0.6,identity;q=0.3] if
+    expected['accept-encoding'] = %w[gzip;q=1.0,identity;q=0.3] if
       Net::HTTP::HAVE_ZLIB
 
     assert_equal expected, req.to_hash
@@ -76,4 +76,3 @@ class HTTPRequestTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   end if Net::HTTP::HAVE_ZLIB
 
 end
-
diff --git test/net/http/test_httpresponse.rb test/net/http/test_httpresponse.rb
index 6dd2a37..1955ec7 100644
--- test/net/http/test_httpresponse.rb
+++ test/net/http/test_httpresponse.rb
@@ -75,14 +75,14 @@ EOS
     assert_equal 'hello', body
   end
 
-  def test_read_body_content_encoding_deflate
+  def test_read_body_content_encoding_gzip
     io = dummy_io(<<EOS)
 HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 Connection: close
-Content-Encoding: deflate
-Content-Length: 13
+Content-Encoding: gzip
+Content-Length: 25
 
-x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15
+\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00
 EOS
 
     res = Net::HTTPResponse.read_new(io)
@@ -98,19 +98,19 @@ EOS
       assert_equal nil, res['content-encoding']
       assert_equal 'hello', body
     else
-      assert_equal 'deflate', res['content-encoding']
-      assert_equal "x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15", body
+      assert_equal 'gzib', res['content-encoding']
+      assert_equal "\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00", body
     end
   end
 
-  def test_read_body_content_encoding_deflate_uppercase
+  def test_read_body_content_encoding_gzip_uppercase
     io = dummy_io(<<EOS)
 HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 Connection: close
-Content-Encoding: DEFLATE
-Content-Length: 13
+Content-Encoding: GZIP
+Content-Length: 25
 
-x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15
+\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00
 EOS
 
     res = Net::HTTPResponse.read_new(io)
@@ -126,22 +126,22 @@ EOS
       assert_equal nil, res['content-encoding']
       assert_equal 'hello', body
     else
-      assert_equal 'DEFLATE', res['content-encoding']
-      assert_equal "x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15", body
+      assert_equal 'GZIP', res['content-encoding']
+      assert_equal "\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00", body
     end
   end
 
-  def test_read_body_content_encoding_deflate_chunked
+  def test_read_body_content_encoding_gzip_chunked
     io = dummy_io(<<EOS)
 HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 Connection: close
-Content-Encoding: deflate
+Content-Encoding: gzip
 Transfer-Encoding: chunked
 
-6
-x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9
-7
-\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15
+d
+\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD
+c
+\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00
 0
 
 EOS
@@ -159,19 +159,19 @@ EOS
       assert_equal nil, res['content-encoding']
       assert_equal 'hello', body
     else
-      assert_equal 'deflate', res['content-encoding']
-      assert_equal "x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15", body
+      assert_equal 'gzip', res['content-encoding']
+      assert_equal "\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00", body
     end
   end
 
-  def test_read_body_content_encoding_deflate_disabled
+  def test_read_body_content_encoding_gzip_disabled
     io = dummy_io(<<EOS)
 HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 Connection: close
-Content-Encoding: deflate
-Content-Length: 13
+Content-Encoding: gzip
+Content-Length: 25
 
-x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15
+\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00
 EOS
 
     res = Net::HTTPResponse.read_new(io)
@@ -183,17 +183,17 @@ EOS
       body = res.read_body
     end
 
-    assert_equal 'deflate', res['content-encoding'], 'Bug #7831'
-    assert_equal "x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15", body, 'Bug #7381'
+    assert_equal 'gzip', res['content-encoding']
+    assert_equal "\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00", body
   end
 
-  def test_read_body_content_encoding_deflate_no_length
+  def test_read_body_content_encoding_gzip_no_length
     io = dummy_io(<<EOS)
 HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 Connection: close
-Content-Encoding: deflate
+Content-Encoding: gzip
 
-x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15
+\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00
 EOS
 
     res = Net::HTTPResponse.read_new(io)
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ EOS
       assert_equal nil, res['content-encoding']
       assert_equal 'hello', body
     else
-      assert_equal 'deflate', res['content-encoding']
-      assert_equal "x\x9C\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x06,\x02\x15\r\n", body
+      assert_equal 'gzip', res['content-encoding']
+      assert_equal "\x1F\x8B\b\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03\xCBH\xCD\xC9\xC9\a\x00\x86\xA6\x106\x05\x00\x00\x00", body
     end
   end