diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 7492c8bcbc5a..b716da6c5ed2 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1532,6 +1532,7 @@
         AC_CHECK_LIB([htp], [htp_tx_get_response_headers_raw],AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_TX_GET_RESPONSE_HEADERS_RAW],[1],[Found htp_tx_get_response_headers_raw in libhtp]) ,,[-lhtp])
         AC_CHECK_LIB([htp], [htp_decode_query_inplace],AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_DECODE_QUERY_INPLACE],[1],[Found htp_decode_query_inplace function in libhtp]) ,,[-lhtp])
         AC_CHECK_LIB([htp], [htp_config_set_response_decompression_layer_limit],AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_RESPONSE_DECOMPRESSION_LAYER_LIMIT],[1],[Found htp_config_set_response_decompression_layer_limit function in libhtp]) ,,[-lhtp])
+        AC_CHECK_LIB([htp], [htp_config_set_allow_space_uri],AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_ALLOW_SPACE_URI],[1],[Found htp_config_set_allow_space_uri function in libhtp]) ,,[-lhtp])
         AC_EGREP_HEADER(htp_config_set_path_decode_u_encoding, htp/htp.h, AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_SET_PATH_DECODE_U_ENCODING],[1],[Found usable htp_config_set_path_decode_u_encoding function in libhtp]) )
         AC_CHECK_LIB([htp], [htp_config_set_lzma_memlimit],AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_LZMA_MEMLIMIT],[1],[Found htp_config_set_lzma_memlimit function in libhtp]) ,,[-lhtp])
         AC_CHECK_LIB([htp], [htp_config_set_lzma_layers],AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_LZMA_LAYERS],[1],[Found htp_config_set_lzma_layers function in libhtp]) ,,[-lhtp])
@@ -1557,6 +1558,7 @@
             AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_DECODE_QUERY_INPLACE],[1],[Assuming htp_decode_query_inplace function in bundled libhtp])
             # enable when libhtp has been updated
             AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_RESPONSE_DECOMPRESSION_LAYER_LIMIT],[1],[Assuming htp_config_set_response_decompression_layer_limit function in bundled libhtp])
+            AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_ALLOW_SPACE_URI],[1],[Assuming htp_config_set_allow_space_uri function in bundled libhtp])
             AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_LZMA_MEMLIMIT],[1],[Assuming htp_config_set_lzma_memlimit function in bundled libhtp])
             AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_LZMA_LAYERS],[1],[Assuming htp_config_set_lzma_layers function in bundled libhtp])
             AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_COMPRESSION_BOMB_LIMIT],[1],[Assuming htp_config_set_compression_bomb_limit function in bundled libhtp])
diff --git a/src/app-layer-htp.c b/src/app-layer-htp.c
index fe008f745043..050ef4d6d7fa 100644
--- a/src/app-layer-htp.c
+++ b/src/app-layer-htp.c
@@ -2445,6 +2445,9 @@ static void HTPConfigSetDefaultsPhase1(HTPCfgRec *cfg_prec)
     htp_config_register_response_complete(cfg_prec->cfg, HTPCallbackResponseComplete);
 
     htp_config_set_parse_request_cookies(cfg_prec->cfg, 0);
+#ifdef HAVE_HTP_CONFIG_SET_ALLOW_SPACE_URI
+    htp_config_set_allow_space_uri(cfg_prec->cfg, 1);
+#endif
 
     /* don't convert + to space by default */
     htp_config_set_plusspace_decode(cfg_prec->cfg, HTP_DECODER_URLENCODED, 0);