diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/base/api.py b/lib/galaxy/webapps/base/api.py
index 61669defb88d..7923fc297331 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/base/api.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/base/api.py
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ class GalaxyFileResponse(FileResponse):
 
     nginx_x_accel_redirect_base: typing.Optional[str] = None
     apache_xsendfile: typing.Optional[bool] = None
-    send_header_only: bool
 
     def __init__(
         self,
@@ -77,7 +76,7 @@ def __init__(
             path, status_code, headers, media_type, background, filename, stat_result, method, content_disposition_type
         )
         self.headers["accept-ranges"] = "bytes"
-        self.send_header_only = self.nginx_x_accel_redirect_base or self.apache_xsendfile
+        self.xsendfile = self.nginx_x_accel_redirect_base or self.apache_xsendfile
         if self.nginx_x_accel_redirect_base:
             self.headers["x-accel-redirect"] = self.nginx_x_accel_redirect_base + os.path.abspath(path)
         elif self.apache_xsendfile:
@@ -96,14 +95,15 @@ async def __call__(self, scope: "Scope", receive: "Receive", send: "Send") -> No
                     raise RuntimeError(f"File at path {self.path} is not a file.")
 
         # This is where we diverge from the superclass, this adds support for byte range requests
-        if not scope["method"].upper() == "HEAD" and self.send_header_only:
+        is_head_request = scope["method"].upper() == "HEAD"
+        if not is_head_request and self.xsendfile:
             # Not a head request, but nginx_x_accel_redirect_base / send_header_only, we don't send a body
-            self.send_header_only = True
             self.headers["content-length"] = "0"
+        send_header_only = self.xsendfile or is_head_request
 
         start = 0
         end = stat_result.st_size - 1
-        if not scope["method"].upper() == "HEAD":
+        if not send_header_only:
             http_range = ""
             for key, value in scope["headers"]:
                 if key == b"range":
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ async def __call__(self, scope: "Scope", receive: "Receive", send: "Send") -> No
                 "headers": self.raw_headers,
             }
         )
-        if self.send_header_only:
+        if send_header_only:
             await send({"type": "http.response.body", "body": b"", "more_body": False})
         else:
             # This also diverges from the superclass by seeking to start and limiting to end if handling byte range requests