diff --git a/backend/http/http.go b/backend/http/http.go
index ae2c50539..632ccf247 100644
--- a/backend/http/http.go
+++ b/backend/http/http.go
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ type Fs struct {
 	endpoint    *url.URL
 	endpointURL string // endpoint as a string
 	httpClient  *http.Client
+	fileName    string // set if we are pointing to a file
 }
 
 // Object is a remote object that has been stat'd (so it exists, but is not necessarily open for reading)
@@ -297,6 +298,7 @@ func (f *Fs) httpConnection(ctx context.Context, opt *Options) (isFile bool, err
 
 	if isFile {
 		// Correct root if definitely pointing to a file
+		f.fileName = path.Base(f.root)
 		f.root = path.Dir(f.root)
 		if f.root == "." || f.root == "/" {
 			f.root = ""
@@ -564,6 +566,17 @@ func (f *Fs) readDir(ctx context.Context, dir string) (names []string, err error
 // This should return ErrDirNotFound if the directory isn't
 // found.
 func (f *Fs) List(ctx context.Context, dir string) (entries fs.DirEntries, err error) {
+	// pointed at a single file: only that file is visible
+	if f.fileName != "" {
+		if dir != "" {
+			return nil, fs.ErrorDirNotFound
+		}
+		obj, err := f.NewObject(ctx, f.fileName)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return fs.DirEntries{obj}, nil
+	}
 	if !strings.HasSuffix(dir, "/") && dir != "" {
 		dir += "/"
 	}
diff --git a/backend/http/http_internal_test.go b/backend/http/http_internal_test.go
index 2bc261eb2..57d72631f 100644
--- a/backend/http/http_internal_test.go
+++ b/backend/http/http_internal_test.go
@@ -331,7 +331,19 @@ func TestIsAFileRoot(t *testing.T) {
 	f, err := NewFs(context.Background(), remoteName, "one%.txt", m)
 	assert.Equal(t, err, fs.ErrorIsFile)
 
-	testListRoot(t, f, false)
+	entries, err := f.List(context.Background(), "")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, 1, len(entries))
+
+	e := entries[0]
+	assert.Equal(t, "one%.txt", e.Remote())
+	assert.Equal(t, int64(5+lineEndSize), e.Size())
+	_, ok := e.(*Object)
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+
+	_, err = f.List(context.Background(), "anysub")
+	assert.Equal(t, fs.ErrorDirNotFound, err)
 }
 
 func TestIsAFileSubDir(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/docs/content/http.md b/docs/content/http.md
index 32e2569a6..5202b84f1 100644
--- a/docs/content/http.md
+++ b/docs/content/http.md
@@ -114,6 +114,33 @@ rclone sync --interactive remote:directory /home/local/directory
 
 This remote is read only - you can't upload files to an HTTP server.
 
+### Servers without directory listings
+
+Rclone normally needs the HTTP server to return a parseable directory
+listing in order to discover files. However if the path points
+directly at a single file (i.e. it does not end with `/` and the
+initial HEAD request reports it as a file), rclone will skip the
+parent directory listing entirely and access the file directly.
+
+This means rclone can be used to download individual files on HTTP
+servers that have directory listings disabled, as long as you know the
+exact URL of each file. For example, given a server that serves
+`https://example.com/path/file.txt` but returns an error or an
+unparseable response for `https://example.com/path/`:
+
+```console
+rclone copy --http-url https://example.com :http:path/file.txt /tmp/
+```
+
+You can use this as a remote in other rclone commands too:
+
+```console
+rclone hashsum crc32 --http-url "https://getsamplefiles.com" :archive::http:download/zip/sample-1.zip
+```
+
+If you just want to download a file or multiple files by URL then
+using [copyurl](/commands/rclone_copyurl/) is more efficient.
+
 ### Modification times
 
 Most HTTP servers store time accurate to 1 second.