diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/50771-uri-improvements.yml b/changelogs/fragments/50771-uri-improvements.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8edd8cf7263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/50771-uri-improvements.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+minor_changes:
+- uri - Eliminate multiple requests to determine the final URL for file naming with ``dest``
+- uri - Avoid reading the response body when not needed
diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py
index c6b194d680b..914a963d811 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ import ansible.module_utils.six.moves.urllib.request as urllib_request
 import ansible.module_utils.six.moves.urllib.error as urllib_error
 
 from ansible.module_utils.common.collections import Mapping
-from ansible.module_utils.six import PY3, string_types
+from ansible.module_utils.six import PY2, PY3, string_types
 from ansible.module_utils.six.moves import cStringIO
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import get_distribution, missing_required_lib
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_bytes, to_native, to_text
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ except ImportError:
 urllib_request.HTTPRedirectHandler.http_error_308 = urllib_request.HTTPRedirectHandler.http_error_307
 
 try:
-    from ansible.module_utils.six.moves.urllib.parse import urlparse, urlunparse
+    from ansible.module_utils.six.moves.urllib.parse import urlparse, urlunparse, unquote
     HAS_URLPARSE = True
 except Exception:
     HAS_URLPARSE = False
@@ -755,6 +755,30 @@ def extract_pem_certs(b_data):
         yield match.group(0)
 
 
+def get_response_filename(response):
+    url = response.geturl()
+    path = urlparse(url)[2]
+    filename = os.path.basename(path.rstrip('/')) or None
+    if filename:
+        filename = unquote(filename)
+
+    return response.headers.get_param('filename', header='content-disposition') or filename
+
+
+def parse_content_type(response):
+    if PY2:
+        get_type = response.headers.gettype
+        get_param = response.headers.getparam
+    else:
+        get_type = response.headers.get_content_type
+        get_param = response.headers.get_param
+
+    content_type = (get_type() or 'application/octet-stream').split(',')[0]
+    main_type, sub_type = content_type.split('/')
+    charset = (get_param('charset') or 'utf-8').split(',')[0]
+    return content_type, main_type, sub_type, charset
+
+
 class RequestWithMethod(urllib_request.Request):
     '''
     Workaround for using DELETE/PUT/etc with urllib2
@@ -1813,10 +1837,13 @@ def fetch_url(module, url, data=None, headers=None, method=None,
     except MissingModuleError as e:
         module.fail_json(msg=to_text(e), exception=e.import_traceback)
     except urllib_error.HTTPError as e:
+        r = e
         try:
             body = e.read()
         except AttributeError:
             body = ''
+        else:
+            e.close()
 
         # Try to add exception info to the output but don't fail if we can't
         try:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/uri.py b/lib/ansible/modules/uri.py
index e2ccc6cdcc7..1ce2e64c2eb 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/uri.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/uri.py
@@ -427,7 +427,6 @@ url:
   sample: https://www.ansible.com/
 '''
 
-import cgi
 import datetime
 import json
 import os
@@ -437,11 +436,11 @@ import sys
 import tempfile
 
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule, sanitize_keys
-from ansible.module_utils.six import PY2, iteritems, string_types
+from ansible.module_utils.six import PY2, PY3, binary_type, iteritems, string_types
 from ansible.module_utils.six.moves.urllib.parse import urlencode, urlsplit
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native, to_text
 from ansible.module_utils.common._collections_compat import Mapping, Sequence
-from ansible.module_utils.urls import fetch_url, prepare_multipart, url_argument_spec
+from ansible.module_utils.urls import fetch_url, get_response_filename, parse_content_type, prepare_multipart, url_argument_spec
 
 JSON_CANDIDATES = ('text', 'json', 'javascript')
 
@@ -458,12 +457,15 @@ def format_message(err, resp):
     return err + (' %s' % msg if msg else '')
 
 
-def write_file(module, url, dest, content, resp):
+def write_file(module, dest, content, resp):
     # create a tempfile with some test content
     fd, tmpsrc = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=module.tmpdir)
-    f = open(tmpsrc, 'wb')
+    f = os.fdopen(fd, 'wb')
     try:
-        f.write(content)
+        if isinstance(content, binary_type):
+            f.write(content)
+        else:
+            shutil.copyfileobj(content, f)
     except Exception as e:
         os.remove(tmpsrc)
         msg = format_message("Failed to create temporary content file: %s" % to_native(e), resp)
@@ -513,13 +515,6 @@ def write_file(module, url, dest, content, resp):
     os.remove(tmpsrc)
 
 
-def url_filename(url):
-    fn = os.path.basename(urlsplit(url)[2])
-    if fn == '':
-        return 'index.html'
-    return fn
-
-
 def absolute_location(url, location):
     """Attempts to create an absolute URL based on initial URL, and
     next URL, specifically in the case of a ``Location`` header.
@@ -577,9 +572,7 @@ def form_urlencoded(body):
 def uri(module, url, dest, body, body_format, method, headers, socket_timeout, ca_path, unredirected_headers):
     # is dest is set and is a directory, let's check if we get redirected and
     # set the filename from that url
-    redirected = False
-    redir_info = {}
-    r = {}
+
     src = module.params['src']
     if src:
         try:
@@ -593,42 +586,15 @@ def uri(module, url, dest, body, body_format, method, headers, socket_timeout, c
         data = body
 
     kwargs = {}
-    if dest is not None:
-        # Stash follow_redirects, in this block we don't want to follow
-        # we'll reset back to the supplied value soon
-        follow_redirects = module.params['follow_redirects']
-        module.params['follow_redirects'] = False
-        if os.path.isdir(dest):
-            # first check if we are redirected to a file download
-            _, redir_info = fetch_url(module, url, data=body,
-                                      headers=headers,
-                                      method=method,
-                                      timeout=socket_timeout, unix_socket=module.params['unix_socket'])
-            # if we are redirected, update the url with the location header,
-            # and update dest with the new url filename
-            if redir_info['status'] in (301, 302, 303, 307):
-                url = redir_info['location']
-                redirected = True
-            dest = os.path.join(dest, url_filename(url))
+    if dest is not None and os.path.isfile(dest):
         # if destination file already exist, only download if file newer
-        if os.path.exists(dest):
-            kwargs['last_mod_time'] = datetime.datetime.utcfromtimestamp(os.path.getmtime(dest))
-
-        # Reset follow_redirects back to the stashed value
-        module.params['follow_redirects'] = follow_redirects
+        kwargs['last_mod_time'] = datetime.datetime.utcfromtimestamp(os.path.getmtime(dest))
 
     resp, info = fetch_url(module, url, data=data, headers=headers,
                            method=method, timeout=socket_timeout, unix_socket=module.params['unix_socket'],
                            ca_path=ca_path, unredirected_headers=unredirected_headers,
                            **kwargs)
 
-    try:
-        content = resp.read()
-    except AttributeError:
-        # there was no content, but the error read()
-        # may have been stored in the info as 'body'
-        content = info.pop('body', '')
-
     if src:
         # Try to close the open file handle
         try:
@@ -636,11 +602,7 @@ def uri(module, url, dest, body, body_format, method, headers, socket_timeout, c
         except Exception:
             pass
 
-    r['redirected'] = redirected or info['url'] != url
-    r.update(redir_info)
-    r.update(info)
-
-    return r, content, dest
+    return resp, info
 
 
 def main():
@@ -726,16 +688,52 @@ def main():
 
     # Make the request
     start = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
-    resp, content, dest = uri(module, url, dest, body, body_format, method,
-                              dict_headers, socket_timeout, ca_path, unredirected_headers)
-    resp['elapsed'] = (datetime.datetime.utcnow() - start).seconds
+    r, info = uri(module, url, dest, body, body_format, method,
+                  dict_headers, socket_timeout, ca_path, unredirected_headers)
+
+    elapsed = (datetime.datetime.utcnow() - start).seconds
+
+    if r and dest is not None and os.path.isdir(dest):
+        filename = get_response_filename(r) or 'index.html'
+        dest = os.path.join(dest, filename)
+
+    if r:
+        content_type, main_type, sub_type, content_encoding = parse_content_type(r)
+    else:
+        content_type = 'application/octet-stream'
+        main_type = 'aplication'
+        sub_type = 'octet-stream'
+        content_encoding = 'utf-8'
+
+    maybe_json = content_type and any(candidate in sub_type for candidate in JSON_CANDIDATES)
+    maybe_output = maybe_json or return_content or info['status'] not in status_code
+
+    if maybe_output:
+        try:
+            if PY3 and r.closed:
+                raise TypeError
+            content = r.read()
+        except (AttributeError, TypeError):
+            # there was no content, but the error read()
+            # may have been stored in the info as 'body'
+            content = info.pop('body', b'')
+    elif r:
+        content = r
+    else:
+        content = None
+
+    resp = {}
+    resp['redirected'] = info['url'] != url
+    resp.update(info)
+
+    resp['elapsed'] = elapsed
     resp['status'] = int(resp['status'])
     resp['changed'] = False
 
     # Write the file out if requested
-    if dest is not None:
+    if r and dest is not None:
         if resp['status'] in status_code and resp['status'] != 304:
-            write_file(module, url, dest, content, resp)
+            write_file(module, dest, content, resp)
             # allow file attribute changes
             resp['changed'] = True
             module.params['path'] = dest
@@ -756,34 +754,9 @@ def main():
         uresp['location'] = absolute_location(url, uresp['location'])
 
     # Default content_encoding to try
-    content_encoding = 'utf-8'
-    if 'content_type' in uresp:
-        # Handle multiple Content-Type headers
-        charsets = []
-        content_types = []
-        for value in uresp['content_type'].split(','):
-            ct, params = cgi.parse_header(value)
-            if ct not in content_types:
-                content_types.append(ct)
-            if 'charset' in params:
-                if params['charset'] not in charsets:
-                    charsets.append(params['charset'])
-
-        if content_types:
-            content_type = content_types[0]
-            if len(content_types) > 1:
-                module.warn(
-                    'Received multiple conflicting Content-Type values (%s), using %s' % (', '.join(content_types), content_type)
-                )
-        if charsets:
-            content_encoding = charsets[0]
-            if len(charsets) > 1:
-                module.warn(
-                    'Received multiple conflicting charset values (%s), using %s' % (', '.join(charsets), content_encoding)
-                )
-
+    if isinstance(content, binary_type):
         u_content = to_text(content, encoding=content_encoding)
-        if any(candidate in content_type for candidate in JSON_CANDIDATES):
+        if maybe_json:
             try:
                 js = json.loads(u_content)
                 uresp['json'] = js
@@ -791,7 +764,7 @@ def main():
                 if PY2:
                     sys.exc_clear()  # Avoid false positive traceback in fail_json() on Python 2
     else:
-        u_content = to_text(content, encoding=content_encoding)
+        u_content = None
 
     if module.no_log_values:
         uresp = sanitize_keys(uresp, module.no_log_values, NO_MODIFY_KEYS)
diff --git a/test/sanity/ignore.txt b/test/sanity/ignore.txt
index 9dbf85a89f2..d056a698ce0 100644
--- a/test/sanity/ignore.txt
+++ b/test/sanity/ignore.txt
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ lib/ansible/modules/systemd.py validate-modules:parameter-invalid
 lib/ansible/modules/systemd.py validate-modules:return-syntax-error
 lib/ansible/modules/sysvinit.py validate-modules:return-syntax-error
 lib/ansible/modules/unarchive.py validate-modules:nonexistent-parameter-documented
-lib/ansible/modules/uri.py pylint:disallowed-name
 lib/ansible/modules/uri.py validate-modules:doc-required-mismatch
 lib/ansible/modules/user.py validate-modules:doc-default-does-not-match-spec
 lib/ansible/modules/user.py validate-modules:doc-default-incompatible-type