diff --git a/google-cloud-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/v1/HttpStorageRpc.java b/google-cloud-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/v1/HttpStorageRpc.java
index 363d9afdde..89a0986730 100644
--- a/google-cloud-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/v1/HttpStorageRpc.java
+++ b/google-cloud-storage/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/storage/spi/v1/HttpStorageRpc.java
@@ -790,6 +790,9 @@ public byte[] load(StorageObject from, Map<Option, ?> options) {
               .setIfGenerationNotMatch(Option.IF_GENERATION_NOT_MATCH.getLong(options))
               .setUserProject(Option.USER_PROJECT.getString(options));
       setEncryptionHeaders(getRequest.getRequestHeaders(), ENCRYPTION_KEY_PREFIX, options);
+      if (Option.RETURN_RAW_INPUT_STREAM.getBoolean(options) != null) {
+        getRequest.setReturnRawInputStream(Option.RETURN_RAW_INPUT_STREAM.getBoolean(options));
+      }
       ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
       getRequest.executeMedia().download(out);
       return out.toByteArray();
diff --git a/google-cloud-storage/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/it/ITGzipTest.java b/google-cloud-storage/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/it/ITGzipTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5603762c47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/google-cloud-storage/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/storage/it/ITGzipTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2024 Google LLC
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.storage.it;
+
+import static com.google.cloud.storage.TestUtils.xxd;
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import com.google.cloud.storage.Blob;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.BlobInfo;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.BucketInfo;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage.BlobSourceOption;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage.BlobTargetOption;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.TestUtils;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.TransportCompatibility.Transport;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.it.runner.StorageITRunner;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.it.runner.annotations.Backend;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.it.runner.annotations.CrossRun;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.it.runner.annotations.Inject;
+import com.google.cloud.storage.it.runner.registry.Generator;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+
+@RunWith(StorageITRunner.class)
+@CrossRun(
+    backends = {Backend.PROD},
+    transports = {Transport.HTTP, Transport.GRPC})
+public final class ITGzipTest {
+
+  private static final ChecksummedTestContent CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT =
+      ChecksummedTestContent.of("Hello, to the world!!!");
+  private static final byte[] GZIPPED_CONTENT =
+      TestUtils.gzipBytes(CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT.getBytes());
+
+  @Inject public Storage storage;
+  @Inject public BucketInfo bucket;
+  @Inject public Generator generator;
+
+  @Test
+  public void noMetadata_noOption() {
+    String name = generator.randomObjectName();
+    BlobInfo info = BlobInfo.newBuilder(bucket, name).build();
+    Blob gen1 = storage.create(info, CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT.getBytes());
+    assertThat(gen1.getContentEncoding()).isAnyOf(null, ""); // json null, grpc ""
+    byte[] actual =
+        storage.readAllBytes(gen1.getBlobId(), BlobSourceOption.shouldReturnRawInputStream(true));
+    assertThat(xxd(actual)).isEqualTo(xxd(CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT.getBytes()));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void yesMetadata_noOption() {
+    String name = generator.randomObjectName();
+    BlobInfo info = BlobInfo.newBuilder(bucket, name).setContentEncoding("gzip").build();
+    Blob gen1 = storage.create(info, GZIPPED_CONTENT);
+    assertThat(gen1.getContentEncoding()).isEqualTo("gzip");
+    byte[] actual =
+        storage.readAllBytes(gen1.getBlobId(), BlobSourceOption.shouldReturnRawInputStream(true));
+    assertThat(xxd(actual)).isEqualTo(xxd(GZIPPED_CONTENT));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void noMetadata_yesOption() {
+    String name = generator.randomObjectName();
+    BlobInfo info = BlobInfo.newBuilder(bucket, name).build();
+    Blob gen1 =
+        storage.create(
+            info, CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT.getBytes(), BlobTargetOption.disableGzipContent());
+    assertThat(gen1.getContentEncoding()).isAnyOf(null, ""); // json null, grpc ""
+    byte[] actual =
+        storage.readAllBytes(gen1.getBlobId(), BlobSourceOption.shouldReturnRawInputStream(true));
+    assertThat(xxd(actual)).isEqualTo(xxd(CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT.getBytes()));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void yesMetadata_yesOption() {
+    String name = generator.randomObjectName();
+    BlobInfo info = BlobInfo.newBuilder(bucket, name).setContentEncoding("gzip").build();
+    Blob gen1 = storage.create(info, GZIPPED_CONTENT, BlobTargetOption.disableGzipContent());
+    assertThat(gen1.getContentEncoding()).isEqualTo("gzip");
+    byte[] actual =
+        storage.readAllBytes(gen1.getBlobId(), BlobSourceOption.shouldReturnRawInputStream(true));
+    assertThat(xxd(actual)).isEqualTo(xxd(GZIPPED_CONTENT));
+
+    byte[] actualUncompressed =
+        storage.readAllBytes(gen1.getBlobId(), BlobSourceOption.shouldReturnRawInputStream(false));
+    assertThat(xxd(actualUncompressed)).isEqualTo(xxd(CHECKSUMMED_TEST_CONTENT.getBytes()));
+  }
+}