diff --git a/lib/std/http/Client.zig b/lib/std/http/Client.zig
index 14bd96a68b..8438a7bbd3 100644
--- a/lib/std/http/Client.zig
+++ b/lib/std/http/Client.zig
@@ -821,13 +821,15 @@ pub const Request = struct {
                 if (req.handle_continue)
                     continue;
 
-                break;
+                return; // we're not handling the 100-continue, return to the caller
             }
 
             // we're switching protocols, so this connection is no longer doing http
-            if (req.response.status == .switching_protocols or (req.method == .CONNECT and req.response.status == .ok)) {
+            if (req.method == .CONNECT and req.response.status.class() == .success) {
                 req.connection.?.closing = false;
                 req.response.parser.done = true;
+
+                return; // the connection is not HTTP past this point, return to the caller
             }
 
             // we default to using keep-alive if not provided in the client if the server asks for it
@@ -842,6 +844,15 @@ pub const Request = struct {
                 req.connection.?.closing = true;
             }
 
+            // Any response to a HEAD request and any response with a 1xx (Informational), 204 (No Content), or 304 (Not Modified)
+            // status code is always terminated by the first empty line after the header fields, regardless of the header fields
+            // present in the message
+            if (req.method == .HEAD or req.response.status.class() == .informational or req.response.status == .no_content or req.response.status == .not_modified) {
+                req.response.parser.done = true;
+
+                return; // the response is empty, no further setup or redirection is necessary
+            }
+
             if (req.response.transfer_encoding != .none) {
                 switch (req.response.transfer_encoding) {
                     .none => unreachable,
@@ -855,12 +866,8 @@ pub const Request = struct {
 
                 if (cl == 0) req.response.parser.done = true;
             } else {
-                req.response.parser.done = true;
-            }
-
-            // HEAD requests have no body
-            if (req.method == .HEAD) {
-                req.response.parser.done = true;
+                // read until the connection is closed
+                req.response.parser.next_chunk_length = std.math.maxInt(u64);
             }
 
             if (req.response.status.class() == .redirect and req.handle_redirects) {
diff --git a/lib/std/http/protocol.zig b/lib/std/http/protocol.zig
index 227b376ed3..0ccafd2ee5 100644
--- a/lib/std/http/protocol.zig
+++ b/lib/std/http/protocol.zig
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ pub const HeadersParser = struct {
     ///
     /// If `skip` is true, the buffer will be unused and the body will be skipped.
     ///
-    /// See `std.http.Client.BufferedConnection for an example of `conn`.
+    /// See `std.http.Client.Connection for an example of `conn`.
     pub fn read(r: *HeadersParser, conn: anytype, buffer: []u8, skip: bool) !usize {
         assert(r.state.isContent());
         if (r.done) return 0;
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ pub const HeadersParser = struct {
                         conn.drop(@intCast(nread));
                         r.next_chunk_length -= nread;
 
-                        if (r.next_chunk_length == 0) r.done = true;
+                        if (r.next_chunk_length == 0 or nread == 0) r.done = true;
 
                         return out_index;
                     } else if (out_index < buffer.len) {
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ pub const HeadersParser = struct {
                         const nread = try conn.read(buffer[0..can_read]);
                         r.next_chunk_length -= nread;
 
-                        if (r.next_chunk_length == 0) r.done = true;
+                        if (r.next_chunk_length == 0 or nread == 0) r.done = true;
 
                         return nread;
                     } else {