diff --git a/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc b/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
index 492463a61..076a5ca56 100644
--- a/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ struct curlFileTransfer : public FileTransfer
         std::function<void(TransferItem &, std::string_view data)> dataCallback;
         CURL * req = 0;
         bool active = false; // whether the handle has been added to the multi object
-        bool headersProcessed = false;
         std::string statusMsg;
 
         unsigned int attempt = 0;
@@ -136,35 +135,11 @@ struct curlFileTransfer : public FileTransfer
 
         std::exception_ptr writeException;
 
-        std::optional<std::string> getHeader(const char * name)
-        {
-            curl_header * result;
-            auto e = curl_easy_header(req, name, 0, CURLH_HEADER, -1, &result);
-            if (e == CURLHE_OK) {
-                return result->value;
-            } else if (e == CURLHE_MISSING || e == CURLHE_NOHEADERS) {
-                return std::nullopt;
-            } else {
-                throw nix::Error("unexpected error from curl_easy_header(): %i", e);
-            }
-        }
-
         size_t writeCallback(void * contents, size_t size, size_t nmemb)
         {
             const size_t realSize = size * nmemb;
 
             try {
-                if (!headersProcessed) {
-                    if (auto h = getHeader("content-encoding")) {
-                        encoding = std::move(*h);
-                    }
-                    if (auto h = getHeader("accept-ranges"); h && *h == "bytes") {
-                        acceptRanges = true;
-                    }
-
-                    headersProcessed = true;
-                }
-
                 result.bodySize += realSize;
 
                 if (successfulStatuses.count(getHTTPStatus()) && this->dataCallback) {
@@ -200,7 +175,31 @@ struct curlFileTransfer : public FileTransfer
                 statusMsg = trim(match.str(1));
                 acceptRanges = false;
                 encoding = "";
-                headersProcessed = false;
+            } else {
+                auto i = line.find(':');
+                if (i != std::string::npos) {
+                    std::string name = toLower(trim(line.substr(0, i)));
+
+                    if (name == "etag") {
+                        result.etag = trim(line.substr(i + 1));
+                    }
+
+                    else if (name == "content-encoding")
+                        encoding = trim(line.substr(i + 1));
+
+                    else if (name == "accept-ranges" && toLower(trim(line.substr(i + 1))) == "bytes")
+                        acceptRanges = true;
+
+                    else if (name == "link" || name == "x-amz-meta-link") {
+                        auto value = trim(line.substr(i + 1));
+                        static std::regex linkRegex("<([^>]*)>; rel=\"immutable\"", std::regex::extended | std::regex::icase);
+                        if (std::smatch match; std::regex_match(value, match, linkRegex))
+                            result.immutableUrl = match.str(1);
+                        else
+                            debug("got invalid link header '%s'", value);
+                        warn("foo %s", value);
+                    }
+                }
             }
             return realSize;
         }
@@ -336,25 +335,6 @@ struct curlFileTransfer : public FileTransfer
             debug("finished %s of '%s'; curl status = %d, HTTP status = %d, body = %d bytes",
                 request.verb(), request.uri, code, httpStatus, result.bodySize);
 
-            auto link = getHeader("link");
-            if (!link) {
-                link = getHeader("x-amz-meta-link");
-            }
-            if (link) {
-                static std::regex linkRegex(
-                    "<([^>]*)>; rel=\"immutable\"", std::regex::extended | std::regex::icase
-                );
-                if (std::smatch match; std::regex_match(*link, match, linkRegex)) {
-                    result.immutableUrl = match.str(1);
-                } else {
-                    debug("got invalid link header '%s'", *link);
-                }
-            }
-
-            if (auto etag = getHeader("etag")) {
-                result.etag = std::move(*etag);
-            }
-
             // this has to happen here until we can return an actual future.
             // wrapping user `callback`s instead is not possible because the
             // Callback api expects std::functions, and copying Callbacks is
diff --git a/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc b/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
index 684697c69..0e5c0965e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
@@ -23,10 +23,19 @@
 
 using namespace std::chrono_literals;
 
+namespace {
+
+struct Reply {
+    std::string status, headers;
+    std::function<std::string()> content;
+};
+
+}
+
 namespace nix {
 
 static std::tuple<uint16_t, AutoCloseFD>
-serveHTTP(std::string_view status, std::string_view headers, std::function<std::string()> content)
+serveHTTP(std::vector<Reply> replies)
 {
     AutoCloseFD listener(::socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0));
     if (!listener) {
@@ -52,7 +61,7 @@ serveHTTP(std::string_view status, std::string_view headers, std::function<std::
     }
 
     std::thread(
-        [status, headers, content](AutoCloseFD socket, AutoCloseFD trigger) {
+        [replies, at{0}](AutoCloseFD socket, AutoCloseFD trigger) mutable {
             while (true) {
                 pollfd pfds[2] = {
                     {
@@ -90,12 +99,14 @@ serveHTTP(std::string_view status, std::string_view headers, std::function<std::
                     }
                 };
 
+                const auto & reply = replies[at++ % replies.size()];
+
                 send("HTTP/1.1 ");
-                send(status);
+                send(reply.status);
                 send("\r\n");
-                send(headers);
+                send(reply.headers);
                 send("\r\n");
-                send(content());
+                send(reply.content());
                 ::shutdown(conn.get(), SHUT_RDWR);
             }
         },
@@ -110,6 +121,12 @@ serveHTTP(std::string_view status, std::string_view headers, std::function<std::
     };
 }
 
+static std::tuple<uint16_t, AutoCloseFD>
+serveHTTP(std::string status, std::string headers, std::function<std::string()> content)
+{
+    return serveHTTP({{{status, headers, content}}});
+}
+
 TEST(FileTransfer, exceptionAbortsDownload)
 {
     struct Done
@@ -166,4 +183,30 @@ TEST(FileTransfer, NOT_ON_DARWIN(handlesContentEncoding))
     ft->download(FileTransferRequest(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/index", port)), sink);
     EXPECT_EQ(sink.s, original);
 }
+
+TEST(FileTransfer, usesIntermediateLinkHeaders)
+{
+    auto [port, srv] = serveHTTP({
+        {"301 ok",
+         "location: /second\r\n"
+         "content-length: 0\r\n",
+         [] { return ""; }},
+        {"307 ok",
+         "location: /third\r\n"
+         "content-length: 0\r\n",
+         [] { return ""; }},
+        {"307 ok",
+         "location: /fourth\r\n"
+         "link: <http://foo>; rel=\"immutable\"\r\n"
+         "content-length: 0\r\n",
+         [] { return ""; }},
+        {"200 ok", "content-length: 1\r\n", [] { return "a"; }},
+    });
+    auto ft = makeFileTransfer();
+    FileTransferRequest req(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/first", port));
+    req.baseRetryTimeMs = 0;
+    auto result = ft->download(req);
+    ASSERT_EQ(result.immutableUrl, "http://foo");
+}
+
 }