diff --git a/cake/dispatcher.php b/cake/dispatcher.php
index 6351793e1..38ab04511 100644
--- a/cake/dispatcher.php
+++ b/cake/dispatcher.php
@@ -615,7 +615,8 @@ class Dispatcher extends Object {
  */
 	function _deliverAsset($assetFile, $ext) {
 		$ob = @ini_get("zlib.output_compression") !== '1' && extension_loaded("zlib") && (strpos(env('HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING'), 'gzip') !== false);
-		if ($ob && Configure::read('Asset.compress')) {
+		$compressionEnabled = $ob && Configure::read('Asset.compress');
+		if ($compressionEnabled) {
 			ob_start();
 			ob_start('ob_gzhandler');
 		}
@@ -642,11 +643,13 @@ class Dispatcher extends Object {
 		if ($ext === 'css' || $ext === 'js') {
 			include($assetFile);
 		} else {
-			ob_clean();
+			if ($compressionEnabled) {
+				ob_clean();
+			}
 			readfile($assetFile);
 		}
 
-		if (Configure::read('Asset.compress')) {
+		if ($compressionEnabled) {
 			ob_end_flush();
 		}
 	}