diff --git a/lib/src/HttpRequestImpl.h b/lib/src/HttpRequestImpl.h
index 95ae3d84..412aecf9 100644
--- a/lib/src/HttpRequestImpl.h
+++ b/lib/src/HttpRequestImpl.h
@@ -209,9 +209,7 @@ class HttpRequestImpl : public HttpRequest
 
     const std::string &getOriginalPath() const override
     {
-        return originalPath_.empty()
-                   ? (originalPath_ = drogon::utils::urlEncode(path_))
-                   : originalPath_;
+        return originalPath_.empty() ? path_ : originalPath_;
     }
 
     void setQuery(const char *start, const char *end)
@@ -675,7 +673,10 @@ class HttpRequestImpl : public HttpRequest
     HttpMethod previousMethod_{Invalid};
     Version version_{Version::kUnknown};
     std::string path_;
-    mutable std::string originalPath_;
+    /// Contains the encoded `path_` if and only if `path_` is set in encoded
+    /// form. If path is in a normal form and needed no decoding, then this will
+    /// be empty, as we do not need to store a duplicate.
+    std::string originalPath_;
     bool pathEncode_{true};
     std::string_view matchedPathPattern_{""};
     std::string query_;