Apparently when a URL refers to a directory that redirects to a file, wget gives up instantly without checking the redirect header. This is a sample broken session: ===8<------------------------------ $ wget 'https://consumer.georgia.gov/document/document/consumer-complaint-form-english/download' --[timestamp]-- https://consumer.georgia.gov/document/document/consumer-complaint-form-english/download Resolving consumer.georgia.gov (consumer.georgia.gov)... 104.18.74.48 Connecting to consumer.georgia.gov (consumer.georgia.gov)|104.18.74.48|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 183944 (180K) [application/pdf] download: Is a directory ===8<------------------------------ ** workaround ** The workaround is basically to use anything other than wget. Firefox works but FF suggests the wrong filename. Aria2c works flawlessly and sets the correct filename. This is what the aria2c session looks like: ===8<------------------------------ $ aria2c 'https://consumer.georgia.gov/document/document/consumer-complaint-form-english/download' [timestamp] [NOTICE] Downloading 1 item(s) [#6234b1 0B/0B CN:1 DL:0B] [timestamp] [NOTICE] Download complete: $PWD/Consumer Complaint Form - 2024-09-30.pdf Download Results: gid |stat|avg speed |path/URI ======+====+===========+======================================================= 6234b1|OK | 459KiB/s|$PWD/Consumer Complaint Form - 2024-09-30.pdf Status Legend: (OK):download completed. ===8<------------------------------