diff --git a/helpers/http_helper.py b/helpers/http_helper.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4c2b4798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helpers/http_helper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""
+HTTP helper with curl_cffi fallback for WAF / TLS-fingerprint bypass.
+
+Background
+----------
+Many enterprise WAF appliances (Akamai, Imperva, F5 ASM, etc.) drop the
+TCP/TLS connection from python-requests at the TLS ClientHello stage,
+because requests' cipher suites, extensions, ALPN order and GREASE
+values do not match any real browser. The user gets a
+``requests.exceptions.ConnectionError`` instead of an HTTP response,
+even though a real browser to the same URL succeeds.
+
+This is common with Swedish government sites (bolagsverket.se,
+skatteverket.se, etc.) when running webperf_core's standard-files test.
+
+Solution
+--------
+``curl_cffi`` uses ``curl-impersonate`` under the hood to perform the
+TLS handshake (and HTTP/2 frame ordering) with byte-exact browser
+fingerprints, which lets us through. We only use it as a fallback when
+the normal ``requests`` call has already failed with a connection error,
+keeping the common case as fast as it was before.
+
+Install
+-------
+Add to ``requirements.txt``::
+
+    curl-cffi>=0.13.0
+
+The module is *optional*: if ``curl_cffi`` is not installed the helper
+behaves exactly like a bare ``requests.get`` call.
+"""
+import requests
+
+try:
+    from curl_cffi import requests as cffi_requests  # type: ignore
+    HAS_CURL_CFFI = True
+except ImportError:
+    HAS_CURL_CFFI = False
+    cffi_requests = None  # type: ignore
+
+
+# Browser profile that ``curl_cffi`` uses to spoof the TLS / HTTP/2 fingerprint.
+# Keep this reasonably current. See the list of supported impersonations at:
+#   https://github.com/lexiforest/curl_cffi#supported-impersonate-versions
+# Picked Chrome since it has the largest share of real-world traffic and is
+# least likely to be the focus of fingerprint-specific anti-bot rules.
+DEFAULT_IMPERSONATE = 'chrome131'
+
+
+def http_get_with_fallback(url,
+                            headers=None,
+                            timeout=60,
+                            allow_redirects=False):
+    """
+    Perform an HTTP GET request, falling back to a browser-impersonating
+    client if the plain request fails at the TCP/TLS level.
+
+    The first attempt uses ``requests`` (fast, no extra dependencies in
+    the critical path). On ``requests.exceptions.ConnectionError`` we
+    retry once via ``curl_cffi`` with a Chrome TLS fingerprint. If the
+    fallback is unavailable or also fails, the **original** connection
+    error is re-raised, so existing exception handling in callers (for
+    example the broad ``except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError`` in
+    ``tests.utils.get_http_content``) continues to behave the same.
+
+    The returned object exposes the standard response interface used by
+    webperf_core call sites: ``.text``, ``.content``, ``.status_code``,
+    ``.headers``. Both ``requests.Response`` and ``curl_cffi``'s response
+    satisfy this contract.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    url : str
+        The URL to GET.
+    headers : dict, optional
+        HTTP request headers (User-Agent, Authorization, etc.). Passed
+        through unchanged to both attempts.
+    timeout : int, optional
+        Per-request timeout in seconds. Default 60.
+    allow_redirects : bool, optional
+        Whether to follow HTTP redirects. Default False, matching
+        webperf_core's existing ``get_http_content`` default.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    Response
+        A ``requests.Response`` or ``curl_cffi`` response object.
+
+    Raises
+    ------
+    requests.exceptions.ConnectionError
+        Both the primary attempt and any fallback failed to connect.
+    Other ``requests`` exceptions
+        Propagated unchanged from the primary attempt (SSL errors,
+        invalid URLs, timeouts, etc. are not retried via curl_cffi).
+    """
+    headers = headers or {}
+
+    try:
+        return requests.get(
+            url,
+            headers=headers,
+            timeout=timeout,
+            allow_redirects=allow_redirects,
+        )
+    except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as primary_err:
+        if not HAS_CURL_CFFI:
+            raise
+
+        try:
+            return cffi_requests.get(
+                url,
+                headers=headers,
+                timeout=timeout,
+                allow_redirects=allow_redirects,
+                impersonate=DEFAULT_IMPERSONATE,
+            )
+        except Exception:
+            # The fallback also failed. Re-raise the *original* error so
+            # callers see a familiar requests.exceptions.ConnectionError
+            # and existing handling (logging, retry-over-HTTPS, etc.)
+            # continues to work unchanged.
+            raise primary_err
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9865f773..a3e28283 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ Numpy==2.4.6
 cryptography==48.0.0
 pylint==4.0.5
 packaging==26.2
+curl-cffi>=0.13.0
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 5eb09720..83e5d885 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import dns.name
 
 from helpers.setting_helper import get_config
+from helpers.http_helper import http_get_with_fallback
 
 CONFIG_WARNINGS = {}
 IP2_LOCATION_DB = {
@@ -480,8 +481,11 @@ def get_http_content(url, allow_redirects=False, use_text_instead_of_content=Tru
         hostname = urlparse(url).hostname
         if hostname == 'api.github.com' and get_config('github.api.key') is not None:
             headers['authorization'] = f"Bearer {get_config('github.api.key')}"
-        response = requests.get(url, allow_redirects=allow_redirects,
-                         headers=headers, timeout=get_config('general.request.timeout')*2)
+        response = http_get_with_fallback(
+            url,
+            headers=headers,
+            timeout=get_config('general.request.timeout')*2,
+            allow_redirects=allow_redirects)
 
         if use_text_instead_of_content:
             content = response.text