diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 56b6a35829..8920ec6a3c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 - When a user checks permissions of a non-existing role or a non-existing resource, Conjur now audits a failure message.
   [cyberark/conjur#2059](https://github.com/cyberark/conjur/issues/2059)
 
+### Changed
+- The secrets batch retrieval endpoint now refers to the `Accept-Encoding` header rather than `Accept` to determine the response encoding
+  [cyberark/conjur#2065](https://github.com/cyberark/conjur/pull/2065)
+
 ## [1.11.4] - 2021-03-09
 
 ### Security
diff --git a/app/controllers/secrets_controller.rb b/app/controllers/secrets_controller.rb
index 15ff9c3ba0..c1944a2f9b 100644
--- a/app/controllers/secrets_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/secrets_controller.rb
@@ -78,8 +78,13 @@ def get_secret_from_variable(variable)
     raise Exceptions::RecordNotFound, variable.resource_id unless secret
 
     secret_value = secret.value
-    accepts_base64 = String(request.headers['Accept']).casecmp?('base64')
-    accepts_base64 ? Base64.encode64(secret_value) : secret_value
+    accepts_base64 = String(request.headers['Accept-Encoding']).casecmp?('base64')
+    if accepts_base64
+      response.set_header("Content-Encoding", "base64")
+      Base64.encode64(secret_value)
+    else
+      secret_value
+    end
   end
 
   def audit_fetch resource, version: nil
diff --git a/cucumber/api/features/secrets_batch.feature b/cucumber/api/features/secrets_batch.feature
index 19882b7c88..62465d56e2 100644
--- a/cucumber/api/features/secrets_batch.feature
+++ b/cucumber/api/features/secrets_batch.feature
@@ -94,13 +94,14 @@ Feature: Batch retrieval of secrets
   Scenario: Returns the correct result for binary secrets
     Given I create a binary secret value for resource "cucumber:variable:secret3"
     And I add the secret value "v2" to the resource "cucumber:variable:secret2"
-    And I set the "Accept" header to "base64"
+    And I set the "Accept-Encoding" header to "base64"
     When I GET "/secrets?variable_ids=cucumber:variable:secret3,cucumber:variable:secret2"
     Then the binary data is preserved for "cucumber:variable:secret3"
+    And the content encoding is "base64"
 
   Scenario: Returns the correct result for binary secrets
     Given I create a binary secret value for resource "cucumber:variable:secret3"
-    And I set the "Accept" header to "Base64"
+    And I set the "Accept-Encoding" header to "Base64"
     When I GET "/secrets?variable_ids=cucumber:variable:secret3"
     Then the binary data is preserved for "cucumber:variable:secret3"
 
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ Feature: Batch retrieval of secrets
     When I GET "/secrets?variable_ids=cucumber:variable:secret3,cucumber:variable:secret2"
     Then the HTTP response status code is 500
 
-  Scenario: Omit the Accept header entirely from batch secrets request
+  Scenario: Omit the Accept-Encoding header entirely from batch secrets request
     Given I add the secret value "v2" to the resource "cucumber:variable:secret2"
     When I GET "/secrets?variable_ids=cucumber:variable:secret2" with no default headers
     Then the JSON should be:
diff --git a/cucumber/api/features/step_definitions/response_steps.rb b/cucumber/api/features/step_definitions/response_steps.rb
index ee55d229c9..1bcf41f82f 100644
--- a/cucumber/api/features/step_definitions/response_steps.rb
+++ b/cucumber/api/features/step_definitions/response_steps.rb
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@
   expect(@result).to eq(@value)
 end
 
+Then(/^the content encoding is "([^"]*)"/) do |encoding|
+  expect(@content_encoding).to eq(encoding)
+end
+
 Then(/^the binary data is preserved for "([^"]*)"$/) do |resource_id|
   data = Base64.decode64(@result[resource_id])
   expect(data).to eq(@value)
diff --git a/cucumber/api/features/support/rest_helpers.rb b/cucumber/api/features/support/rest_helpers.rb
index 1872bc204f..d892fe8797 100644
--- a/cucumber/api/features/support/rest_helpers.rb
+++ b/cucumber/api/features/support/rest_helpers.rb
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ def set_result result
     @http_status = result.code
 
     @content_type = result.headers[:content_type]
+    @content_encoding = result.headers[:content_encoding]
     if /^application\/json/.match?(@content_type)
       @result = JSON.parse(result)
       @response_api_key = @result['api_key'] if @result.is_a?(Hash)