diff --git a/stor/__init__.py b/stor/__init__.py
index 589885d5..797109ee 100644
--- a/stor/__init__.py
+++ b/stor/__init__.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ def wrapper(path, *args, **kwargs):
 
 # extra compat!
 open = _delegate_to_path('open')
+xopen = _delegate_to_path('xopen')
 abspath = _delegate_to_path('abspath')
 normcase = _delegate_to_path('normcase')
 normpath = _delegate_to_path('normpath')
diff --git a/stor/base.py b/stor/base.py
index 3d0cd290..f878eb9e 100644
--- a/stor/base.py
+++ b/stor/base.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import shutil
 import sys
 import warnings
+import gzip
 
 from six.moves import builtins
 from six import text_type
@@ -272,6 +273,22 @@ def open(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
         raise NotImplementedError
 
+    def xopen(self, mode='r', *args, **kwargs):
+        """Open a file-like object, transparently handling gzip compression.
+
+        See: :func:`open`
+        """
+        if self.endswith('.gz'):
+            if mode == 'r':
+                mode = 'rb'
+            if mode == 'w':
+                mode = 'wb'
+            fp = self.open(mode, *args, **kwargs)
+            gzfp = gzip.GzipFile(fileobj=fp)
+            return gzfp
+        else:
+            return self.open(mode, *args, **kwargs)
+
     def list(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """List all contents using the path as a prefix.
 
diff --git a/stor/tests/file_data/utf8_file_with_unicode.txt b/stor/tests/file_data/utf8_file_with_unicode.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..58f12a7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stor/tests/file_data/utf8_file_with_unicode.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+a ≥ b
+c 😄
diff --git a/stor/tests/shared_obs.py b/stor/tests/shared_obs.py
index af066ca0..1061642b 100644
--- a/stor/tests/shared_obs.py
+++ b/stor/tests/shared_obs.py
@@ -65,6 +65,39 @@ def test_works_with_gzip(self, mock_read_object):
                     gzip_fp.seek(3)
                     assert_same_data(fp, gzip_fp)
 
+    @mock_read_object
+    def test_xopen_gzip(self, mock_read_object):
+        gzip_path = stor.join(stor.dirname(__file__), 'file_data', 's_3_2126.bcl.gz')
+
+        correct_binary_data = stor.open(gzip_path, 'rb').read()
+        mock_read_object.return_value = correct_binary_data
+
+        with stor.xopen(stor.join(self.drive, 'A/C/s_3_2126.bcl.gz'), 'r') as fp:
+            with gzip.open(gzip_path) as gzip_fp:
+                assert_same_data(fp, gzip_fp)
+
+        with stor.xopen(stor.join(self.drive, 'A/C/s_3_2126.bcl.gz'), 'r') as fp:
+            with gzip.open(gzip_path) as gzip_fp:
+                # after seeking, the rest of the data should still be the same
+                fp.seek(3)
+                gzip_fp.seek(3)
+                assert_same_data(fp, gzip_fp)
+
+    @mock_read_object
+    def test_xopen_regular(self, mock_read_object):
+        fpath = stor.join(stor.dirname(__file__), 'file_data', 'utf8_file_with_unicode.txt')
+        correct_binary_data = stor.open(fpath, 'rb').read()
+        mock_read_object.return_value = correct_binary_data
+
+        for mode in 'r', 'rb':
+            with stor.xopen(fpath, mode) as xfp:
+                with stor.open(fpath, mode) as fp:
+                    assert_same_data(xfp, fp)
+
+        with stor.xopen(stor.join(self.drive, 'A/C/utf8_file_with_unicode.txt'), 'rb') as xfp:
+            with stor.open(fpath, 'rb') as fp:
+                assert_same_data(xfp, fp)
+
     def test_makedirs_p_does_nothing(self):
         # dumb test... but why not?
         self.normal_path.makedirs_p()