diff --git a/apache2/re_variables.c b/apache2/re_variables.c
index 360f5b57..e4714b2d 100644
--- a/apache2/re_variables.c
+++ b/apache2/re_variables.c
@@ -1626,6 +1626,14 @@ static int var_response_status_generate(modsec_rec *msr, msre_var *var, msre_rul
     return var_simple_generate(var, vartab, mptmp, value);
 }
 
+/* RESPONSE_CONTENT_ENCODING */
+
+static int var_response_content_encoding(modsec_rec *msr, msre_var *var, msre_rule *rule,
+    apr_table_t *vartab, apr_pool_t *mptmp)
+{
+    return var_simple_generate(var, vartab, mptmp, msr->r->content_encoding);
+}
+
 /* USERID */
 
 static int var_userid_generate(modsec_rec *msr, msre_var *var, msre_rule *rule,
@@ -2390,6 +2398,17 @@ void msre_engine_register_default_variables(msre_engine *engine) {
         PHASE_RESPONSE_HEADERS
     );
 
+    /* RESPONSE_CONTENT_ENCODING */
+    msre_engine_variable_register(engine,
+        "RESPONSE_CONTENT_ENCODING",
+        VAR_SIMPLE,
+        0, 0,
+        NULL,
+        var_response_content_encoding,
+        VAR_CACHE,
+        PHASE_RESPONSE_HEADERS
+    );
+
     /* RULE */
     msre_engine_variable_register(engine,
         "RULE",