diff --git a/ktor-http/common/src/io/ktor/http/FileContentType.kt b/ktor-http/common/src/io/ktor/http/FileContentType.kt
index 4241f843105..9bb1327ed22 100644
--- a/ktor-http/common/src/io/ktor/http/FileContentType.kt
+++ b/ktor-http/common/src/io/ktor/http/FileContentType.kt
@@ -65,18 +65,34 @@ private val extensionsByContentType: Map<ContentType, List<String>> by lazy {
 internal fun List<ContentType>.selectDefault(): ContentType {
     val contentType = firstOrNull() ?: ContentType.Application.OctetStream
     return when {
-        contentType.match(ContentType.Text.Any) && contentType.charset() == null -> contentType.withCharset(
-            Charsets.UTF_8
-        )
+        contentType.match(ContentType.Text.Any) -> contentType.withCharsetUTF8IfNeeded()
+        contentType.match(ContentType.Image.SVG) -> contentType.withCharsetUTF8IfNeeded()
+        contentType.matchApplicationTypeWithCharset() -> contentType.withCharsetUTF8IfNeeded()
+        else -> contentType
+    }
+}
 
-        contentType.match(ContentType.Image.SVG) && contentType.charset() == null -> contentType.withCharset(
-            Charsets.UTF_8
-        )
+private fun ContentType.matchApplicationTypeWithCharset(): Boolean {
+    if (!match(ContentType.Application.Any)) return false
 
-        else -> contentType
+    return when {
+        match(ContentType.Application.Atom) ||
+            match(ContentType.Application.JavaScript) ||
+            match(ContentType.Application.Rss) ||
+            match(ContentType.Application.Xml) ||
+            match(ContentType.Application.Xml_Dtd)
+        -> true
+
+        else -> false
     }
 }
 
+private fun ContentType.withCharsetUTF8IfNeeded(): ContentType {
+    if (charset() != null) return this
+
+    return withCharset(Charsets.UTF_8)
+}
+
 internal fun <A, B> Sequence<Pair<A, B>>.groupByPairs() = groupBy { it.first }
     .mapValues { e -> e.value.map { it.second } }
 
diff --git a/ktor-server/ktor-server-tests/jvm/test-resources/public/types/file.xml b/ktor-server/ktor-server-tests/jvm/test-resources/public/types/file.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/ktor-server/ktor-server-tests/jvm/test/io/ktor/server/plugins/StaticContentTest.kt b/ktor-server/ktor-server-tests/jvm/test/io/ktor/server/plugins/StaticContentTest.kt
index 8b5dd33349a..74c229881de 100644
--- a/ktor-server/ktor-server-tests/jvm/test/io/ktor/server/plugins/StaticContentTest.kt
+++ b/ktor-server/ktor-server-tests/jvm/test/io/ktor/server/plugins/StaticContentTest.kt
@@ -1260,7 +1260,8 @@ class StaticContentTest {
         val extensions = mapOf(
             "js" to ContentType.Text.JavaScript,
             "css" to ContentType.Text.CSS,
-            "svg" to ContentType.Image.SVG
+            "svg" to ContentType.Image.SVG,
+            "xml" to ContentType.Application.Xml,
         )
 
         routing {