diff --git a/roles/taskotron/taskotron-master/templates/artifacts.conf.j2 b/roles/taskotron/taskotron-master/templates/artifacts.conf.j2
index feda33ebe8..7262bc3697 100644
--- a/roles/taskotron/taskotron-master/templates/artifacts.conf.j2
+++ b/roles/taskotron/taskotron-master/templates/artifacts.conf.j2
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ Alias /artifacts {{ public_artifacts_dir }}
     Require all granted
 </DirectoryMatch>
 
+
+ExtFilterDefine gz-to-plain mode=output \
+intype=application/x-gzip outtype=text/plain \
+cmd="/bin/gunzip -c -"
+
+
 {% if deployment_type == 'dev' %}
 <DirectoryMatch "^{{ public_artifacts_dir }}/all/(.+)/task_output/">
     RewriteEngine on
@@ -30,7 +36,14 @@ Alias /artifacts {{ public_artifacts_dir }}
     RewriteCond   "{{ public_artifacts_dir }}/all/$1/task_output/$2.gz"  -f
     RewriteCond   "{{ public_artifacts_dir }}/all/$1/task_output/$2"     !-f
     RewriteRule   "^{{ public_artifacts_dir }}/all/(.+)/task_output/(.*)$"  "{{ public_artifacts_dir }}/all/$1/task_output/$2.gz"
-    SetOutputFilter INFLATE
-    ForceType text/plain
+
+    # mod_deflate doesnt work as expected for some reason
+    # use custom filter instead
+    SetOutputFilter gz-to-plain
+
+    # keep the mod_deflate for reference though
+    #AddEncoding x-gzip .gz
+    #SetOutputFilter INFLATE
+    #ForceType text/plain
 </DirectoryMatch>
 {% endif %}