diff --git a/packages/gateway-conformance/package.json b/packages/gateway-conformance/package.json
index f6dd93a..5196a28 100644
--- a/packages/gateway-conformance/package.json
+++ b/packages/gateway-conformance/package.json
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@
     "@libp2p/logger": "^5.1.4",
     "@libp2p/peer-id": "^5.0.8",
     "@multiformats/dns": "^1.0.6",
-    "@sgtpooki/file-type": "^1.0.1",
     "aegir": "^45.0.1",
     "blockstore-core": "^5.0.2",
     "datastore-core": "^10.0.2",
diff --git a/packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/basic-server.ts b/packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/basic-server.ts
index f511f1b..bd0ac45 100644
--- a/packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/basic-server.ts
+++ b/packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/basic-server.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import { logger } from '@libp2p/logger'
 import { dns } from '@multiformats/dns'
 import { MemoryBlockstore } from 'blockstore-core'
 import { Agent, setGlobalDispatcher } from 'undici'
-import { contentTypeParser } from './content-type-parser.js'
 import { createVerifiedFetch } from './create-verified-fetch.js'
 import { getLocalDnsResolver } from './get-local-dns-resolver.js'
 import { convertFetchHeadersToNodeJsHeaders, convertNodeJsHeadersToFetchHeaders } from './header-utils.js'
@@ -201,7 +200,6 @@ export async function startVerifiedFetchGateway ({ kuboGateway, serverPort, IPFS
   const helia = await createHelia({ gateways: [kuboGateway], dnsResolvers: [localDnsResolver], blockstore, datastore })
 
   const verifiedFetch = await createVerifiedFetch(helia, {
-    contentTypeParser,
     plugins: [dirIndexHtmlPluginFactory]
   })
 
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/package.json b/packages/verified-fetch/package.json
index 64a16e6..b8dae21 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/package.json
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/package.json
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@
     "@libp2p/webrtc": "^5.1.0",
     "@libp2p/websockets": "^9.1.5",
     "@multiformats/dns": "^1.0.6",
+    "@sgtpooki/file-type": "^1.0.1",
     "cborg": "^4.2.8",
     "hashlru": "^2.3.0",
     "helia": "^5.2.1",
@@ -188,7 +189,6 @@
     "@helia/json": "^4.0.2",
     "@ipld/car": "^5.4.0",
     "@libp2p/crypto": "^5.0.11",
-    "@sgtpooki/file-type": "^1.0.1",
     "@types/sinon": "^17.0.3",
     "aegir": "^45.0.9",
     "blockstore-core": "^5.0.2",
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/src/plugins/plugin-handle-raw.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/plugins/plugin-handle-raw.ts
index a43c4bd..c3b7b64 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/src/plugins/plugin-handle-raw.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/plugins/plugin-handle-raw.ts
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ export class RawPlugin extends BasePlugin {
       context.query.filename = context.query.filename ?? `${cid.toString()}.bin`
       log.trace('Set content disposition...')
     } else {
-      log.trace('Did NOT setting content disposition...')
+      log.trace('Did NOT set content disposition...')
     }
 
     if (path !== '' && cid.code === rawCode) {
diff --git a/packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/content-type-parser.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/content-type-parser.ts
similarity index 89%
rename from packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/content-type-parser.ts
rename to packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/content-type-parser.ts
index 82d132c..0f55560 100644
--- a/packages/gateway-conformance/src/fixtures/content-type-parser.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/content-type-parser.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 import { logger } from '@libp2p/logger'
 import { fileTypeFromBuffer } from '@sgtpooki/file-type'
 
-const log = logger('content-type-parser')
+const log = logger('helia:verified-fetch:content-type-parser')
 
-// default from verified-fetch is application/octect-stream, which forces a download. This is not what we want for MANY file types.
-const defaultMimeType = 'text/html; charset=utf-8'
+export const defaultMimeType = 'application/octet-stream'
 function checkForSvg (bytes: Uint8Array): boolean {
   log('checking for svg')
   return /^(<\?xml[^>]+>)?[^<^\w]+<svg/ig.test(new TextDecoder().decode(bytes.slice(0, 64)))
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/set-content-type.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/set-content-type.ts
index b9d2070..34ea424 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/set-content-type.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/set-content-type.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { type Logger } from '@libp2p/interface'
 import { type ContentTypeParser } from '../types.js'
+import { defaultMimeType } from './content-type-parser.js'
 import { isPromise } from './type-guards.js'
 
 export interface SetContentTypeOptions {
@@ -34,6 +35,10 @@ export async function setContentType ({ bytes, path, response, contentTypeParser
       log.error('error parsing content type', err)
     }
   }
+  if (contentType === defaultMimeType) {
+    // if the content type is the default in our content-type-parser, instead, set it to the default content type provided to this function.
+    contentType = defaultContentType
+  }
   log.trace('setting content type to "%s"', contentType ?? defaultContentType)
   response.headers.set('content-type', contentType ?? defaultContentType)
 }
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts
index abcd2d4..8da6b2a 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { IpnsRecordPlugin } from './plugins/plugin-handle-ipns-record.js'
 import { JsonPlugin } from './plugins/plugin-handle-json.js'
 import { RawPlugin } from './plugins/plugin-handle-raw.js'
 import { TarPlugin } from './plugins/plugin-handle-tar.js'
+import { contentTypeParser } from './utils/content-type-parser.js'
 import { getContentDispositionFilename } from './utils/get-content-disposition-filename.js'
 import { getETag } from './utils/get-e-tag.js'
 import { getResolvedAcceptHeader } from './utils/get-resolved-accept-header.js'
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ export class VerifiedFetch {
     this.helia = helia
     this.log = helia.logger.forComponent('helia:verified-fetch')
     this.ipns = ipns ?? heliaIpns(helia)
-    this.contentTypeParser = init?.contentTypeParser
+    this.contentTypeParser = init?.contentTypeParser ?? contentTypeParser
     this.blockstoreSessions = new LRUCache({
       max: init?.sessionCacheSize ?? SESSION_CACHE_MAX_SIZE,
       ttl: init?.sessionTTLms ?? SESSION_CACHE_TTL_MS,
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/test/content-type-parser.spec.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/test/content-type-parser.spec.ts
index fb6f787..4225f66 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/test/content-type-parser.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/test/content-type-parser.spec.ts
@@ -28,25 +28,22 @@ describe('content-type-parser', () => {
     await stop(verifiedFetch)
   })
 
-  it('is used when passed to createVerifiedFetch', async () => {
-    const contentTypeParser = Sinon.stub().resolves('text/plain')
+  it('can be overriden by passing a custom contentTypeParser', async () => {
+    let called = false
+    const contentTypeParser = Sinon.stub().callsFake(() => {
+      called = true
+      return 'text/plain'
+    })
     const fetch = await createVerifiedFetch(helia, {
       contentTypeParser
     })
     expect(fetch).to.be.ok()
     const resp = await fetch(cid)
     expect(resp.headers.get('content-type')).to.equal('text/plain')
+    expect(called).to.equal(true)
     await fetch.stop()
   })
 
-  it('sets default content type if contentTypeParser is not passed', async () => {
-    verifiedFetch = new VerifiedFetch({
-      helia
-    })
-    const resp = await verifiedFetch.fetch(cid)
-    expect(resp.headers.get('content-type')).to.equal('application/octet-stream')
-  })
-
   it('sets default content type if contentTypeParser returns undefined', async () => {
     verifiedFetch = new VerifiedFetch({
       helia