diff --git a/src/zimscraperlib/constants.py b/src/zimscraperlib/constants.py
index cc2946c2..3533c615 100644
--- a/src/zimscraperlib/constants.py
+++ b/src/zimscraperlib/constants.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 NAME = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.name
 SCRAPER = f"{NAME} {__version__}"
 CONTACT = "dev@openzim.org"
+DEFAULT_USER_AGENT = f"{NAME}/{__version__} ({CONTACT})"
 
 UTF8 = "UTF-8"
 
diff --git a/src/zimscraperlib/inputs.py b/src/zimscraperlib/inputs.py
index 2497f3f6..058ffc76 100644
--- a/src/zimscraperlib/inputs.py
+++ b/src/zimscraperlib/inputs.py
@@ -7,18 +7,13 @@
 from typing import Optional, Tuple, Union
 
 from zimscraperlib import logger
-from zimscraperlib.constants import (
-    CONTACT,
-)
+from zimscraperlib.constants import DEFAULT_USER_AGENT
 from zimscraperlib.constants import (
     MAXIMUM_DESCRIPTION_METADATA_LENGTH as MAX_DESC_LENGTH,
 )
 from zimscraperlib.constants import (
     MAXIMUM_LONG_DESCRIPTION_METADATA_LENGTH as MAX_LONG_DESC_LENGTH,
 )
-from zimscraperlib.constants import (
-    SCRAPER as PROJECT_NAME,
-)
 from zimscraperlib.download import stream_file
 
 
@@ -27,6 +22,7 @@ def handle_user_provided_file(
     dest: Optional[pathlib.Path] = None,
     in_dir: Optional[pathlib.Path] = None,
     nocopy: bool = False,  # noqa: FBT001, FBT002
+    user_agent: Optional[str] = DEFAULT_USER_AGENT,
 ) -> Union[pathlib.Path, None]:
     """path to downloaded or copied a user provided file (URL or path)
 
@@ -48,7 +44,7 @@ def handle_user_provided_file(
 
     if str(source).startswith("http"):
         logger.debug(f"download {source} -> {dest}")
-        headers = {"User-Agent": f"{PROJECT_NAME.replace(' ','/')} ({CONTACT})"}
+        headers = {"User-Agent": user_agent} if user_agent else None
         stream_file(url=str(source), fpath=dest, headers=headers)
     else:
         source = pathlib.Path(source).expanduser().resolve()
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index bee8e890..011e15e2 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -120,6 +120,16 @@ def webp_image():
     return file_src("ninja.webp")
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def valid_user_agent():
+    return "name/version (contact)"
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def invalid_user_agent():
+    return "name version) (contact)"
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def small_zim_file(tmpdir_factory):
     from zimscraperlib.download import stream_file
diff --git a/tests/inputs/test_inputs.py b/tests/inputs/test_inputs.py
index 9377ca4c..af23d904 100644
--- a/tests/inputs/test_inputs.py
+++ b/tests/inputs/test_inputs.py
@@ -6,12 +6,17 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+import zimscraperlib
+from zimscraperlib.constants import CONTACT
 from zimscraperlib.constants import (
     MAXIMUM_DESCRIPTION_METADATA_LENGTH as MAX_DESC_LENGTH,
 )
 from zimscraperlib.constants import (
     MAXIMUM_LONG_DESCRIPTION_METADATA_LENGTH as MAX_LONG_DESC_LENGTH,
 )
+from zimscraperlib.constants import (
+    NAME as PROJECT_NAME,
+)
 from zimscraperlib.inputs import compute_descriptions, handle_user_provided_file
 
 
@@ -80,6 +85,37 @@ def test_remote_indir(tmp_path, valid_http_url):
     assert fpath.parent == tmp_path
 
 
+def test_remote_default_user_agent(valid_http_url, monkeypatch):
+    def mock_stream_file(**kwargs):
+        headers = kwargs.get("headers")
+        assert headers is not None
+        user_agent = headers.get("User-Agent")
+        assert isinstance(user_agent, str)
+        assert user_agent.startswith(PROJECT_NAME)
+        assert user_agent.endswith(f"({CONTACT})")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        zimscraperlib.inputs,  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
+        "stream_file",
+        mock_stream_file,
+        raising=True,
+    )
+    handle_user_provided_file(source=valid_http_url)
+
+
+def test_remote_provided_none_user_agent(valid_http_url, monkeypatch):
+    def mock_stream_file(**kwargs):
+        assert kwargs.get("headers") is None
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        zimscraperlib.inputs,  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
+        "stream_file",
+        mock_stream_file,
+        raising=True,
+    )
+    handle_user_provided_file(source=valid_http_url, user_agent=None)
+
+
 TEXT_NOT_USED = "text not used"
 
 LONG_TEXT = (