diff --git a/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md b/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
index 688c8012c5..28e4275774 100755
--- a/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ The following table shows a configuration option's name, type, and the default v
 |[block-user-agents](#block-user-agents)|[]string|""|
 |[block-referers](#block-referers)|[]string|""|
 |[proxy-ssl-location-only](#proxy-ssl-location-only)|bool|"false"|
+|[default-type](#default-type)|string|"text/html"|
 
 ## add-headers
 
@@ -1084,3 +1085,11 @@ _References:_
 
 Set if proxy-ssl parameters should be applied only on locations and not on servers.
 _**default:**_ is disabled
+
+## default-type
+
+Sets the default MIME type of a response.
+_**default:**_ text/html
+
+_References:_
+[http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#default_type](http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#default_type)
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go b/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go
index 5f164e7465..b73cdde1da 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go
@@ -671,6 +671,11 @@ type Configuration struct {
 	// proxy-ssl-* annotations are applied on on location level only in the nginx.conf file
 	// Default is that those are applied on server level, too
 	ProxySSLLocationOnly bool `json:"proxy-ssl-location-only"`
+
+	// DefaultType Sets the default MIME type of a response.
+	// http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#default_type
+	// Default: text/html
+	DefaultType string `json:"default-type"`
 }
 
 // NewDefault returns the default nginx configuration
@@ -815,6 +820,7 @@ func NewDefault() Configuration {
 		NoAuthLocations:              "/.well-known/acme-challenge",
 		GlobalExternalAuth:           defGlobalExternalAuth,
 		ProxySSLLocationOnly:         false,
+		DefaultType:                  "text/html",
 	}
 
 	if klog.V(5) {
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/template/configmap_test.go b/internal/ingress/controller/template/configmap_test.go
index 2cc13c5231..e4101fb078 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/template/configmap_test.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/template/configmap_test.go
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ func TestMergeConfigMapToStruct(t *testing.T) {
 		"nginx-status-ipv6-whitelist":   "::1,2001::/16",
 		"proxy-add-original-uri-header": "false",
 		"disable-ipv6-dns":              "true",
+		"default-type":                  "text/plain",
 	}
 	def := config.NewDefault()
 	def.CustomHTTPErrors = []int{300, 400}
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ func TestMergeConfigMapToStruct(t *testing.T) {
 	def.ProxyAddOriginalURIHeader = false
 	def.LuaSharedDicts = defaultLuaSharedDicts
 	def.DisableIpv6DNS = true
+	def.DefaultType = "text/plain"
 
 	hash, err := hashstructure.Hash(def, &hashstructure.HashOptions{
 		TagName: "json",
diff --git a/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl b/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl
index f828b1a17a..5888cf30c6 100755
--- a/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl
+++ b/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ http {
     {{ buildOpentracing $cfg $servers }}
 
     include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
-    default_type text/html;
+    default_type {{ $cfg.DefaultType }};
 
     {{ if $cfg.EnableBrotli }}
     brotli on;