diff --git a/archivebox/archive_methods.py b/archivebox/archive_methods.py
index b3915e2f..56009cd1 100644
--- a/archivebox/archive_methods.py
+++ b/archivebox/archive_methods.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ from config import (
     WGET_USER_AGENT,
     CHECK_SSL_VALIDITY,
     COOKIES_FILE,
+    WGET_AUTO_COMPRESSION
 )
 from util import (
     domain,
@@ -224,10 +225,10 @@ def fetch_wget(link_dir, link, timeout=TIMEOUT):
         '--backup-converted',
         '--span-hosts',
         '--no-parent',
-        '--compression=auto',
         '-e', 'robots=off',
         '--restrict-file-names=unix',
         '--timeout={}'.format(timeout),
+        *(('--compression=auto',) if WGET_AUTO_COMPRESSION else ()),
         *(() if FETCH_WARC else ('--timestamping',)),
         *(('--warc-file={}'.format(warc_path),) if FETCH_WARC else ()),
         *(('--page-requisites',) if FETCH_WGET_REQUISITES else ()),
diff --git a/archivebox/config.py b/archivebox/config.py
index 7235e7ca..ec970a22 100644
--- a/archivebox/config.py
+++ b/archivebox/config.py
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ TEMPLATES_DIR = os.path.join(PYTHON_PATH, 'templates')
 CHROME_SANDBOX = os.getenv('CHROME_SANDBOX', 'True').lower() == 'true'
 USE_CHROME = FETCH_PDF or FETCH_SCREENSHOT or FETCH_DOM
 USE_WGET = FETCH_WGET or FETCH_WGET_REQUISITES or FETCH_WARC
+WGET_AUTO_COMPRESSION = USE_WGET and WGET_BINARY and (not run([WGET_BINARY, "--compression=auto", "--help"], stdout=DEVNULL).returncode)
 
 ########################### Environment & Dependencies #########################
 
diff --git a/archivebox/parse.py b/archivebox/parse.py
index ce6b0358..baaa447e 100644
--- a/archivebox/parse.py
+++ b/archivebox/parse.py
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ def parse_rss_export(rss_file):
     """Parse RSS XML-format files into links"""
 
     rss_file.seek(0)
-    items = rss_file.read().split('</item>\n<item>')
+    items = rss_file.read().split('<item>')
+    items = items[1:] if items else []
     for item in items:
         # example item:
         # <item>
@@ -166,7 +167,7 @@ def parse_rss_export(rss_file):
         # </item>
 
         trailing_removed = item.split('</item>', 1)[0]
-        leading_removed = trailing_removed.split('<item>', 1)[-1]
+        leading_removed = trailing_removed.split('<item>', 1)[-1].strip()
         rows = leading_removed.split('\n')
 
         def get_row(key):