diff --git a/docker/api/container.py b/docker/api/container.py
index 45bd3528..391832af 100644
--- a/docker/api/container.py
+++ b/docker/api/container.py
@@ -694,7 +694,8 @@ class ContainerApiMixin(object):
         return self._stream_raw_result(res, chunk_size, False)
 
     @utils.check_resource('container')
-    def get_archive(self, container, path, chunk_size=DEFAULT_DATA_CHUNK_SIZE):
+    def get_archive(self, container, path, chunk_size=DEFAULT_DATA_CHUNK_SIZE,
+                    encode_stream=False):
         """
         Retrieve a file or folder from a container in the form of a tar
         archive.
@@ -705,6 +706,8 @@ class ContainerApiMixin(object):
             chunk_size (int): The number of bytes returned by each iteration
                 of the generator. If ``None``, data will be streamed as it is
                 received. Default: 2 MB
+            encode_stream (bool): Determines if data should be encoded
+                (gzip-compressed) during transmission. Default: False
 
         Returns:
             (tuple): First element is a raw tar data stream. Second element is
@@ -729,8 +732,13 @@ class ContainerApiMixin(object):
         params = {
             'path': path
         }
+        headers = {
+            "Accept-Encoding": "gzip, deflate"
+        } if encode_stream else {
+            "Accept-Encoding": "identity"
+        }
         url = self._url('/containers/{0}/archive', container)
-        res = self._get(url, params=params, stream=True)
+        res = self._get(url, params=params, stream=True, headers=headers)
         self._raise_for_status(res)
         encoded_stat = res.headers.get('x-docker-container-path-stat')
         return (
diff --git a/docker/models/containers.py b/docker/models/containers.py
index d1f275f7..f143d424 100644
--- a/docker/models/containers.py
+++ b/docker/models/containers.py
@@ -225,7 +225,8 @@ class Container(Model):
         """
         return self.client.api.export(self.id, chunk_size)
 
-    def get_archive(self, path, chunk_size=DEFAULT_DATA_CHUNK_SIZE):
+    def get_archive(self, path, chunk_size=DEFAULT_DATA_CHUNK_SIZE,
+                    encode_stream=False):
         """
         Retrieve a file or folder from the container in the form of a tar
         archive.
@@ -235,6 +236,8 @@ class Container(Model):
             chunk_size (int): The number of bytes returned by each iteration
                 of the generator. If ``None``, data will be streamed as it is
                 received. Default: 2 MB
+            encode_stream (bool): Determines if data should be encoded
+                (gzip-compressed) during transmission. Default: False
 
         Returns:
             (tuple): First element is a raw tar data stream. Second element is
@@ -255,7 +258,8 @@ class Container(Model):
             ...    f.write(chunk)
             >>> f.close()
         """
-        return self.client.api.get_archive(self.id, path, chunk_size)
+        return self.client.api.get_archive(self.id, path,
+                                           chunk_size, encode_stream)
 
     def kill(self, signal=None):
         """
diff --git a/tests/unit/models_containers_test.py b/tests/unit/models_containers_test.py
index da5f0ab9..c9f73f37 100644
--- a/tests/unit/models_containers_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit/models_containers_test.py
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ class ContainerTest(unittest.TestCase):
         container = client.containers.get(FAKE_CONTAINER_ID)
         container.get_archive('foo')
         client.api.get_archive.assert_called_with(
-            FAKE_CONTAINER_ID, 'foo', DEFAULT_DATA_CHUNK_SIZE
+            FAKE_CONTAINER_ID, 'foo', DEFAULT_DATA_CHUNK_SIZE, False
         )
 
     def test_image(self):