diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/crypto/crypto_utils.py b/swift/common/middleware/crypto/crypto_utils.py
index 5cd2740bf9..980bebb912 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/crypto/crypto_utils.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/crypto/crypto_utils.py
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ import urllib.parse
 
 from swift.common.exceptions import EncryptionException, UnknownSecretIdError
 from swift.common.swob import HTTPInternalServerError
-from swift.common.utils import get_logger
+from swift.common.utils import get_logger, parse_header
 from swift.common.wsgi import WSGIContext
-from cgi import parse_header
 
 CRYPTO_KEY_CALLBACK = 'swift.callback.fetch_crypto_keys'
 
diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3api.py b/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3api.py
index cb498de3c3..dfef93a0d3 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3api.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/s3api/s3api.py
@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@ https://github.com/swiftstack/s3compat in detail.
 
 """
 
-from cgi import parse_header
 import json
 from paste.deploy import loadwsgi
 from urllib.parse import parse_qs
@@ -159,7 +158,8 @@ from swift.common.middleware.s3api.s3request import get_request_class
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.s3response import ErrorResponse, \
     InternalError, MethodNotAllowed, S3ResponseBase, S3NotImplemented
 from swift.common.utils import get_logger, config_true_value, \
-    config_positive_int_value, split_path, closing_if_possible, list_from_csv
+    config_positive_int_value, split_path, closing_if_possible, \
+    list_from_csv, parse_header
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.utils import Config
 from swift.common.middleware.s3api.acl_handlers import get_acl_handler
 from swift.common.registry import register_swift_info, \
diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/slo.py b/swift/common/middleware/slo.py
index 833b5a1bde..6c7389ac2c 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/slo.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/slo.py
@@ -339,7 +339,6 @@ metadata which can be used for stats and billing purposes.
 """
 
 import base64
-from cgi import parse_header
 from collections import defaultdict
 from datetime import datetime
 import json
@@ -362,7 +361,7 @@ from swift.common.utils import get_logger, config_true_value, \
     override_bytes_from_content_type, split_path, \
     RateLimitedIterator, quote, closing_if_possible, \
     LRUCache, StreamingPile, strict_b64decode, Timestamp, friendly_close, \
-    md5
+    md5, parse_header
 from swift.common.registry import register_swift_info
 from swift.common.request_helpers import SegmentedIterable, \
     get_sys_meta_prefix, update_etag_is_at_header, resolve_etag_is_at_header, \
diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/symlink.py b/swift/common/middleware/symlink.py
index d951577d91..8f8d6e4e53 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/symlink.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/symlink.py
@@ -199,11 +199,10 @@ configuration steps are required:
 
 import json
 import os
-from cgi import parse_header
 
 from swift.common.utils import get_logger, split_path, \
     MD5_OF_EMPTY_STRING, close_if_possible, closing_if_possible, \
-    config_true_value, drain_and_close
+    config_true_value, drain_and_close, parse_header
 from swift.common.registry import register_swift_info
 from swift.common.constraints import check_account_format
 from swift.common.wsgi import WSGIContext, make_subrequest, \
@@ -289,7 +288,7 @@ def _validate_and_prep_request_headers(req):
             request=req, content_type='text/plain')
     etag = normalize_etag(req.headers.get(TGT_ETAG_SYMLINK_HDR, None))
     if etag and any(c in etag for c in ';"\\'):
-        # See cgi.parse_header for why the above chars are problematic
+        # See utils.parse_header for why the above chars are problematic
         raise HTTPBadRequest(
             body='Bad %s format' % TGT_ETAG_SYMLINK_HDR.title(),
             request=req, content_type='text/plain')
diff --git a/swift/common/middleware/versioned_writes/object_versioning.py b/swift/common/middleware/versioned_writes/object_versioning.py
index 4083fc8ce6..2a29d25ebc 100644
--- a/swift/common/middleware/versioned_writes/object_versioning.py
+++ b/swift/common/middleware/versioned_writes/object_versioning.py
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@ import itertools
 import json
 import time
 
-from cgi import parse_header
 from urllib.parse import unquote
 
 from swift.common.constraints import MAX_FILE_SIZE, valid_api_version, \
@@ -169,7 +168,7 @@ from swift.common.swob import HTTPPreconditionFailed, HTTPServiceUnavailable, \
 from swift.common.storage_policy import POLICIES
 from swift.common.utils import get_logger, Timestamp, drain_and_close, \
     config_true_value, close_if_possible, closing_if_possible, \
-    FileLikeIter, split_path, parse_content_type, RESERVED_STR
+    FileLikeIter, split_path, parse_content_type, parse_header, RESERVED_STR
 from swift.common.wsgi import WSGIContext, make_pre_authed_request
 from swift.proxy.controllers.base import get_container_info
 
diff --git a/swift/common/utils/__init__.py b/swift/common/utils/__init__.py
index dacfcb080a..d5518d5a05 100644
--- a/swift/common/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/swift/common/utils/__init__.py
@@ -2840,6 +2840,11 @@ _rfc_extension_pattern = re.compile(
     r'(?:\s*;\s*(' + _rfc_token + r")\s*(?:=\s*(" + _rfc_token +
     r'|"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*"))?)')
 
+_loose_token = r'[^()<>@,;:\"\[\]?={}\x00-\x20\x7f]+'  # nosec B105
+_loose_extension_pattern = re.compile(
+    r'(?:\s*;\s*(' + _loose_token + r")\s*(?:=\s*(" + _loose_token +
+    r'|"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*"))?)')
+
 _content_range_pattern = re.compile(r'^bytes (\d+)-(\d+)/(\d+)$')
 
 
@@ -2861,7 +2866,7 @@ def parse_content_range(content_range):
     return tuple(int(x) for x in found.groups())
 
 
-def parse_content_type(content_type):
+def parse_content_type(content_type, strict=True):
     """
     Parse a content-type and its parameters into values.
     RFC 2616 sec 14.17 and 3.7 are pertinent.
@@ -2873,19 +2878,48 @@ def parse_content_type(content_type):
             ('text/plain', [('charset, 'UTF-8'), ('level', '1')])
 
     :param content_type: content_type to parse
+    :param strict: ignore ``/`` and any following characters in parameter
+        tokens. If ``strict`` is True a parameter such as ``x=a/b`` will be
+        parsed as ``x=a``. If ``strict`` is False a parameter such as ``x=a/b``
+        will be parsed as ``x=a/b``. The default is True.
     :returns: a tuple containing (content type, list of k, v parameter tuples)
     """
     parm_list = []
     if ';' in content_type:
         content_type, parms = content_type.split(';', 1)
         parms = ';' + parms
-        for m in _rfc_extension_pattern.findall(parms):
+        pat = _rfc_extension_pattern if strict else _loose_extension_pattern
+        for m in pat.findall(parms):
             key = m[0].strip()
             value = m[1].strip()
             parm_list.append((key, value))
     return content_type, parm_list
 
 
+def parse_header(value):
+    """
+    Parse a header value to extract the first part and a dict of any
+    following parameters.
+
+    The ``value`` to parse should be of the form:
+
+        ``<first part>[;<key>=<value>][; <key>=<value>]...``
+
+    ``<first part>`` should be of the form ``<token>[/<token>]``, ``<key>``
+    should be a ``token``, and ``<value>`` should be either a ``token`` or
+    ``quoted-string``, where ``token`` and ``quoted-string`` are defined by RFC
+    2616 section 2.2.
+
+    :param value: the header value to parse.
+    :return: a tuple (first part, dict(params)).
+    """
+    # note: this does not behave *exactly* like cgi.parse_header (which this
+    # replaces) w.r.t. parsing non-token characters in param values (e.g. the
+    # null character) , but it's sufficient for our use cases.
+    token, params = parse_content_type(value, strict=False)
+    return token, dict(params)
+
+
 def extract_swift_bytes(content_type):
     """
     Parse a content-type and return a tuple containing:
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
index 7a77677651..a1457a818b 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
@@ -1853,6 +1853,77 @@ cluster_dfw1 = http://dfw1.host/v1/
         self.assertEqual(
             utils.parse_content_type(r'text/plain; x="\""; a'),
             ('text/plain', [('x', r'"\""'), ('a', '')]))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_content_type(r'text/plain; x=a/b; y'),
+            ('text/plain', [('x', 'a'), ('y', '')]))
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_content_type(r'text/plain; x=a/b; y', strict=True),
+            ('text/plain', [('x', 'a'), ('y', '')]))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_content_type(r'text/plain; x=a/b; y', strict=False),
+            ('text/plain', [('x', 'a/b'), ('y', '')]))
+
+    def test_parse_header(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_header('text/plain'), ('text/plain', {}))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_header('text/plain;'), ('text/plain', {}))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_header(r'text/plain; x=a/b; y  =  z'),
+            ('text/plain', {'x': 'a/b', 'y': 'z'}))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_header(r'text/plain; x=a/b; y'),
+            ('text/plain', {'x': 'a/b', 'y': ''}))
+        self.assertEqual(
+            utils.parse_header('etag; x=a/b; y'),
+            ('etag', {'x': 'a/b', 'y': ''}))
+
+    def test_parse_headers_chars_in_params(self):
+        def do_test(val):
+            self.assertEqual(
+                utils.parse_header('text/plain; x=a%sb' % val),
+                ('text/plain', {'x': 'a%sb' % val}))
+
+        do_test('\N{SNOWMAN}')
+        do_test('\\')
+        do_test('%')
+        do_test('-')
+        do_test('-')
+        do_test('&')
+        # wsgi_quote'd null character is ok...
+        do_test('%00')
+
+    def test_parse_header_non_token_chars_in_params(self):
+        def do_test(val):
+            # character terminates individual param parsing...
+            self.assertEqual(
+                utils.parse_header('text/plain; x=a%sb; y=z' % val),
+                ('text/plain', {'x': 'a', 'y': 'z'}),
+                'val=%s' % val
+            )
+
+        non_token_chars = '()<>@,:[]?={}\x00"'
+
+        for ch in non_token_chars:
+            do_test(ch)
+
+        do_test(' space  oddity ')
+
+    def test_parse_header_quoted_string_in_params(self):
+        def do_test(val):
+            self.assertEqual(
+                utils.parse_header('text/plain; x="%s"; y=z' % val),
+                ('text/plain', {'x': '"%s"' % val, 'y': 'z'}),
+                'val=%s' % val
+            )
+
+        non_token_chars = '()<>@,:[]?={}\x00'
+
+        for ch in non_token_chars:
+            do_test(ch)
+
+        do_test(' space  oddity ')
 
     def test_override_bytes_from_content_type(self):
         listing_dict = {