diff --git a/shims/xhr.js b/shims/xhr.js
index e95685a95..199fb8836 100644
--- a/shims/xhr.js
+++ b/shims/xhr.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ var util = require('util');
 var urlutil = require('url');
 var http = require('http');
 var https = require('https');
+var capability = require('stream-http/lib/capability');
 var debug = require('debug')('urllib');
 var ms = require('humanize-ms');
 
@@ -146,6 +147,10 @@ exports.requestWithCallback = function requestWithCallback(url, args, callback)
     options.requestTimeout = args.timeout;
   }
 
+  if (capability.abortController) {
+    options.mode = 'disable-fetch';
+  }
+
   var sslNames = [
     'pfx',
     'key',