Are you able to print out the repr() of the header or the entire HTTP response so we can see exactly what characters are there? Or provide a URL if it is a public server. I suspect it may not be a completely blank line, but may have whitespace there.

Both Python 2 and 3 should stop parsing the HTTP header when they meet a blank line (two CRLFs in a row). This marks the start of the HTTP body. See <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7230#section-3>.