diff --git a/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl.go b/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl.go
index ce4d6eb..6cbec47 100644
--- a/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl.go
+++ b/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl.go
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ func NewHTTPClient(browserBaseURL, jwt string, underlying *http.Client) *http.Cl
 	if underlying == nil {
 		underlying = http.DefaultClient
 	}
-	rt := underlying.Transport
+	rt := rawCURLUnderlyingTransport(underlying.Transport)
 	if rt == nil {
-		rt = http.DefaultTransport
+		rt = rawCURLUnderlyingTransport(http.DefaultTransport)
 	}
 	return &http.Client{
 		Transport: newRawCURLRoundTripper(browserBaseURL, jwt, rt),
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ func NewHTTPClient(browserBaseURL, jwt string, underlying *http.Client) *http.Cl
 	}
 }
 
+func rawCURLUnderlyingTransport(rt http.RoundTripper) http.RoundTripper {
+	if transport, ok := rt.(*http.Transport); ok {
+		clone := transport.Clone()
+		clone.DisableCompression = true
+		return clone
+	}
+	return rt
+}
+
 // newRawCURLRoundTripper returns an [http.RoundTripper] that maps each request
 // to {base_url}/curl/raw?jwt=...&url=<absolute-target>, preserving method,
 // headers, and body. The caller's request URL must be an absolute http(s) URL.
@@ -76,6 +85,18 @@ func (t *RawCURLRoundTripper) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, erro
 	out.URL = proxyURL
 	out.Host = proxyURL.Host
 	out.RequestURI = ""
+	if !hasHeader(out.Header, "User-Agent") {
+		out.Header["User-Agent"] = nil
+	}
 
 	return t.underlying.RoundTrip(out)
 }
+
+func hasHeader(headers http.Header, name string) bool {
+	for key := range headers {
+		if strings.EqualFold(key, name) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl_test.go b/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl_test.go
index 57982b2..4a5e22e 100644
--- a/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl_test.go
+++ b/lib/browserrouting/rawcurl_test.go
@@ -44,6 +44,64 @@ func TestRawCURLRoundTripper(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRawCURLRoundTripperSuppressesGoTransportHeaders(t *testing.T) {
+	var sawUserAgent, sawAcceptEncoding string
+	up := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		sawUserAgent = r.Header.Get("User-Agent")
+		sawAcceptEncoding = r.Header.Get("Accept-Encoding")
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+	}))
+	defer up.Close()
+
+	client := NewHTTPClient(up.URL+"/browser/kernel", "jwt1", http.DefaultClient)
+	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "https://example.org/foo", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	res, err := client.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+
+	if sawUserAgent != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected user-agent: %q", sawUserAgent)
+	}
+	if sawAcceptEncoding != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected accept-encoding: %q", sawAcceptEncoding)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRawCURLRoundTripperPreservesExplicitTransportHeaders(t *testing.T) {
+	var sawUserAgent, sawAcceptEncoding string
+	up := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		sawUserAgent = r.Header.Get("User-Agent")
+		sawAcceptEncoding = r.Header.Get("Accept-Encoding")
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+	}))
+	defer up.Close()
+
+	client := NewHTTPClient(up.URL+"/browser/kernel", "jwt1", http.DefaultClient)
+	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "https://example.org/foo", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "custom-agent")
+	req.Header.Set("Accept-Encoding", "identity")
+	res, err := client.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer res.Body.Close()
+
+	if sawUserAgent != "custom-agent" {
+		t.Fatalf("user-agent: %q", sawUserAgent)
+	}
+	if sawAcceptEncoding != "identity" {
+		t.Fatalf("accept-encoding: %q", sawAcceptEncoding)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRawCURLRoundTripperRelativeURL(t *testing.T) {
 	rt := newRawCURLRoundTripper("https://x/browser/kernel", "j", http.DefaultTransport)
 	req, _ := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/relative", nil)