diff --git a/src/frontend-common/http_downloader_winhttp.cpp b/src/frontend-common/http_downloader_winhttp.cpp
index 634e3ab94..44356dd7f 100644
--- a/src/frontend-common/http_downloader_winhttp.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend-common/http_downloader_winhttp.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "common/log.h"
 #include "common/string_util.h"
 #include "common/timer.h"
+#include <VersionHelpers.h>
 #include <algorithm>
 Log_SetChannel(HTTPDownloaderWinHttp);
 
@@ -32,8 +33,12 @@ std::unique_ptr<HTTPDownloader> HTTPDownloader::Create()
 
 bool HTTPDownloaderWinHttp::Initialize()
 {
-  m_hSession = WinHttpOpen(StringUtil::UTF8StringToWideString(m_user_agent).c_str(),
-                           WINHTTP_ACCESS_TYPE_AUTOMATIC_PROXY, nullptr, nullptr, WINHTTP_FLAG_ASYNC);
+  // WINHTTP_ACCESS_TYPE_AUTOMATIC_PROXY is not supported before Win8.1.
+  const DWORD dwAccessType =
+    IsWindows8Point1OrGreater() ? WINHTTP_ACCESS_TYPE_AUTOMATIC_PROXY : WINHTTP_ACCESS_TYPE_DEFAULT_PROXY;
+
+  m_hSession = WinHttpOpen(StringUtil::UTF8StringToWideString(m_user_agent).c_str(), dwAccessType, nullptr, nullptr,
+                           WINHTTP_FLAG_ASYNC);
   if (m_hSession == NULL)
   {
     Log_ErrorPrintf("WinHttpOpen() failed: %u", GetLastError());