diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts
index 4c2d05b208e..69f1d93b2b7 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/dom.ts
@@ -1313,7 +1313,22 @@ export function asCSSUrl(uri: URI): string {
 	return `url('${asDomUri(uri).toString(true).replace(/'/g, '%27')}')`;
 }
 
-export function triggerDownload(uri: URI, name: string): void {
+
+export function triggerDownload(dataOrUri: Uint8Array | URI, name: string): void {
+
+	// If the data is provided as Buffer, we create a
+	// blog URL out of it to produce a valid link
+	let url: string;
+	if (URI.isUri(dataOrUri)) {
+		url = dataOrUri.toString(true);
+	} else {
+		const blob = new Blob([dataOrUri]);
+		url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+
+		// Ensure to free the data from DOM eventually
+		setTimeout(() => URL.revokeObjectURL(url));
+	}
+
 	// In order to download from the browser, the only way seems
 	// to be creating a <a> element with download attribute that
 	// points to the file to download.
@@ -1321,7 +1336,7 @@ export function triggerDownload(uri: URI, name: string): void {
 	const anchor = document.createElement('a');
 	document.body.appendChild(anchor);
 	anchor.download = name;
-	anchor.href = uri.toString(true);
+	anchor.href = url;
 	anchor.click();
 
 	// Ensure to remove the element from DOM eventually
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/files/browser/fileActions.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/files/browser/fileActions.ts
index 3bf22780290..75143ade13d 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/files/browser/fileActions.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/files/browser/fileActions.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ import { CLOSE_EDITORS_AND_GROUP_COMMAND_ID } from 'vs/workbench/browser/parts/e
 import { coalesce } from 'vs/base/common/arrays';
 import { ExplorerItem, NewExplorerItem } from 'vs/workbench/contrib/files/common/explorerModel';
 import { getErrorMessage } from 'vs/base/common/errors';
-import { asDomUri, triggerDownload } from 'vs/base/browser/dom';
+import { triggerDownload, asDomUri } from 'vs/base/browser/dom';
 import { mnemonicButtonLabel } from 'vs/base/common/labels';
 import { IFilesConfigurationService } from 'vs/workbench/services/filesConfiguration/common/filesConfigurationService';
 import { IWorkingCopyService, IWorkingCopy } from 'vs/workbench/services/workingCopy/common/workingCopyService';
@@ -1001,6 +1001,7 @@ export const cutFileHandler = (accessor: ServicesAccessor) => {
 
 export const DOWNLOAD_COMMAND_ID = 'explorer.download';
 const downloadFileHandler = (accessor: ServicesAccessor) => {
+	const fileService = accessor.get(IFileService);
 	const textFileService = accessor.get(ITextFileService);
 	const fileDialogService = accessor.get(IFileDialogService);
 	const explorerService = accessor.get(IExplorerService);
@@ -1014,7 +1015,14 @@ const downloadFileHandler = (accessor: ServicesAccessor) => {
 
 		if (isWeb) {
 			if (!s.isDirectory) {
-				triggerDownload(asDomUri(s.resource), s.name);
+				let bufferOrUri: Uint8Array | URI;
+				try {
+					bufferOrUri = (await fileService.readFile(s.resource, { limits: { size: 1024 * 1024  /* set a limit to reduce memory pressure */ } })).value.buffer;
+				} catch (error) {
+					bufferOrUri = asDomUri(s.resource);
+				}
+
+				triggerDownload(bufferOrUri, s.name);
 			}
 		} else {
 			let defaultUri = s.isDirectory ? fileDialogService.defaultFolderPath() : fileDialogService.defaultFilePath();