diff --git a/doc/protocols.texi b/doc/protocols.texi
index 350c52a465..9c068075d5 100644
--- a/doc/protocols.texi
+++ b/doc/protocols.texi
@@ -473,6 +473,19 @@ Set the Referer header. Include 'Referer: URL' header in HTTP request.
 @item multiple_requests
 Use persistent connections if set to 1, default is 0.
 
+@item initial_request_size
+Limit the size of initial requests. This is useful when dealing with formats
+that require frequent seeks during initial parsing. This lasts until the
+demuxer makes a read request larger than this size (without a seek in between),
+after which the implementation will continue using unbounded requests as usual.
+Disabled (set to 0) by default.
+
+Note that if enabling this option, it's strongly recommended to also enable
+the @option{multiple_requests} option, as well as setting
+@option{short_seek_size} to the same value or higher. Doing so allows FFmpeg
+to reuse a single HTTP connection wherever possible, even for formats like
+MXF or MOV that require frequent small seeks during initial parsing.
+
 @item post_data
 Set custom HTTP post data.
 
diff --git a/libavformat/http.c b/libavformat/http.c
index 8c98ea0a8f..b0803f26aa 100644
--- a/libavformat/http.c
+++ b/libavformat/http.c
@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ typedef struct HTTPContext {
     unsigned int retry_after;
     int reconnect_max_retries;
     int reconnect_delay_total_max;
+    uint64_t initial_request_size;
+    int partial_requests; /* whether or not to limit requests to initial_request_size */
 } HTTPContext;
 
 #define OFFSET(x) offsetof(HTTPContext, x)
@@ -162,6 +164,7 @@ static const AVOption options[] = {
     { "user_agent", "override User-Agent header", OFFSET(user_agent), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, { .str = DEFAULT_USER_AGENT }, 0, 0, D },
     { "referer", "override referer header", OFFSET(referer), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, { .str = NULL }, 0, 0, D },
     { "multiple_requests", "use persistent connections", OFFSET(multiple_requests), AV_OPT_TYPE_BOOL, { .i64 = 0 }, 0, 1, D | E },
+    { "initial_request_size", "size (in bytes) of initial requests made during probing / header parsing", OFFSET(initial_request_size), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT64, { .i64 = 0 }, 0, INT64_MAX, D },
     { "post_data", "set custom HTTP post data", OFFSET(post_data), AV_OPT_TYPE_BINARY, .flags = D | E },
     { "mime_type", "export the MIME type", OFFSET(mime_type), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, { .str = NULL }, 0, 0, AV_OPT_FLAG_EXPORT | AV_OPT_FLAG_READONLY },
     { "http_version", "export the http response version", OFFSET(http_version), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, { .str = NULL }, 0, 0, AV_OPT_FLAG_EXPORT | AV_OPT_FLAG_READONLY },
@@ -754,6 +757,7 @@ static int http_open(URLContext *h, const char *uri, int flags,
     else
         h->is_streamed = 1;
 
+    s->partial_requests = s->seekable != 0 && s->initial_request_size > 0;
     s->filesize = UINT64_MAX;
 
     s->location = av_strdup(uri);
@@ -1455,6 +1459,9 @@ static int http_read_header(URLContext *h)
     if (s->seekable == -1 && s->is_mediagateway && s->filesize == 2000000000)
         h->is_streamed = 1; /* we can in fact _not_ seek */
 
+    if (h->is_streamed)
+        s->partial_requests = 0; /* unable to use partial requests */
+
     // add any new cookies into the existing cookie string
     cookie_string(s->cookie_dict, &s->cookies);
     av_dict_free(&s->cookie_dict);
@@ -1564,7 +1571,15 @@ static int http_connect(URLContext *h, const char *path, const char *local_path,
     // server supports seeking by analysing the reply headers.
     if (!has_header(s->headers, "\r\nRange: ") && !post && (s->off > 0 || s->end_off || s->seekable != 0)) {
         av_bprintf(&request, "Range: bytes=%"PRIu64"-", s->off);
-        if (s->end_off)
+        if (s->partial_requests && s->seekable != 0) {
+            uint64_t target_off = s->off + s->initial_request_size;
+            if (target_off < s->off) /* overflow */
+                target_off = UINT64_MAX;
+            if (s->end_off)
+                target_off = FFMIN(target_off, s->end_off);
+            if (target_off != UINT64_MAX)
+                av_bprintf(&request, "%"PRId64, target_off - 1);
+        } else if (s->end_off)
             av_bprintf(&request, "%"PRId64, s->end_off - 1);
         av_bprintf(&request, "\r\n");
     }
@@ -1802,6 +1817,7 @@ static int http_read_stream(URLContext *h, uint8_t *buf, int size)
             AVDictionary *options = NULL;
             if (s->willclose)
                 ffurl_closep(&s->hd);
+            s->partial_requests = 0; /* continue streaming uninterrupted from now on */
             read_ret = http_open_cnx(h, &options);
             av_dict_free(&options);
             if (read_ret == 0)