diff --git a/commands/http/handler.go b/commands/http/handler.go
index bf74cec9164..27b386a59d6 100644
--- a/commands/http/handler.go
+++ b/commands/http/handler.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	cors "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/rs/cors"
 	context "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/golang.org/x/net/context"
 	"github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/repo/config"
+	"github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/util"
 
 	cmds "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/commands"
 	logging "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/vendor/QmQg1J6vikuXF9oDvm4wpdeAUvvkVEKW1EYDw9HhTMnP2b/go-log"
@@ -61,12 +62,6 @@ const (
 	ACACredentials = "Access-Control-Allow-Credentials"
 )
 
-var mimeTypes = map[string]string{
-	cmds.JSON: "application/json",
-	cmds.XML:  "application/xml",
-	cmds.Text: "text/plain",
-}
-
 type ServerConfig struct {
 	// Headers is an optional map of headers that is written out.
 	Headers map[string][]string
@@ -191,18 +186,18 @@ func guessMimeType(res cmds.Response) (string, error) {
 		return "", errors.New("no encoding option set")
 	}
 
-	if m, ok := mimeTypes[enc]; ok {
+	if m, ok := util.MimeTypes[enc]; ok {
 		return m, nil
 	}
 
-	return mimeTypes[cmds.JSON], nil
+	return util.MimeTypes[cmds.JSON], nil
 }
 
 func sendResponse(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, res cmds.Response, req cmds.Request) {
 	h := w.Header()
 	// Expose our agent to allow identification
-	h.Set("Server", "go-ipfs/" + config.CurrentVersionNumber)
-	
+	h.Set("Server", "go-ipfs/"+config.CurrentVersionNumber)
+
 	mime, err := guessMimeType(res)
 	if err != nil {
 		http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusInternalServerError)
@@ -236,7 +231,9 @@ func sendResponse(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, res cmds.Response, req
 	if _, ok := res.Output().(io.Reader); ok {
 		// set streams output type to text to avoid issues with browsers rendering
 		// html pages on priveleged api ports
-		mime = "text/plain"
+		if !util.XssSafeMimeType(mime) {
+			mime = util.MimeTypes[cmds.Text]
+		}
 		h.Set(streamHeader, "1")
 	}
 
diff --git a/commands/response.go b/commands/response.go
index 577b86a8b4f..73b8d1958e0 100644
--- a/commands/response.go
+++ b/commands/response.go
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ type EncodingType string
 const (
 	JSON = "json"
 	XML  = "xml"
+	Tar  = "tar"
+	Gzip = "gzip"
 	Text = "text"
 	// TODO: support more encoding types
 )
diff --git a/core/commands/get.go b/core/commands/get.go
index e133a5f9c91..fcbaf8b316e 100644
--- a/core/commands/get.go
+++ b/core/commands/get.go
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ may also specify the level of compression by specifying '-l=<1-9>'.
 			return
 		}
 
+		// set the correct mime type for tar stream
+		req.SetOption(cmds.EncShort, cmds.Tar)
+		if cmplvl != gzip.NoCompression {
+			req.SetOption(cmds.EncShort, cmds.Gzip)
+		}
+
 		archive, _, _ := req.Option("archive").Bool()
 		reader, err := uarchive.DagArchive(ctx, dn, p.String(), node.DAG, archive, cmplvl)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0090-get.sh b/test/sharness/t0090-get.sh
index b678b58237b..30afa4ccf3b 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0090-get.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0090-get.sh
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ test_get_cmd
 # should work online
 test_launch_ipfs_daemon
 test_get_cmd
+test_expect_success "ipfs get response has the correct content-type" '
+    curl -I "http://localhost:$PORT_API/api/v0/get?arg=$HASH" | grep "^Content-Type: application/x-tar"
+'
 test_kill_ipfs_daemon
 
 test_done