diff --git a/src/Connection/Protocols/ImapProtocol.php b/src/Connection/Protocols/ImapProtocol.php
index 6871d57f..b2d248b4 100644
--- a/src/Connection/Protocols/ImapProtocol.php
+++ b/src/Connection/Protocols/ImapProtocol.php
@@ -815,9 +815,23 @@ public function fetch(array|string $items, array|int $from, mixed $to = null, in
 
             // if we only want one item we return that one directly
             if (count($items) == 1) {
-                if ($tokens[2][0] == $items[0]) {
+                $expectedItem = (string) $items[0];
+                $itemMatches = static function($actual, $expected): bool {
+                    $actualNorm = strtoupper((string) $actual);
+                    $expectedNorm = strtoupper((string) $expected);
+                    if ($actualNorm === $expectedNorm) {
+                        return true;
+                    }
+                    // IMAP may answer BODY[...] even when request used BODY.PEEK[...].
+                    if (str_replace('.PEEK', '', $actualNorm) === str_replace('.PEEK', '', $expectedNorm)) {
+                        return true;
+                    }
+                    return false;
+                };
+
+                if ($itemMatches($tokens[2][0] ?? '', $expectedItem)) {
                     $data = $tokens[2][1];
-                } elseif ($uid === IMAP::ST_UID && $tokens[2][2] == $items[0]) {
+                } elseif ($uid === IMAP::ST_UID && $itemMatches($tokens[2][2] ?? '', $expectedItem)) {
                     $data = $tokens[2][3];
                 } else {
                     $expectedResponse = 0;
@@ -825,7 +839,7 @@ public function fetch(array|string $items, array|int $from, mixed $to = null, in
                     $count = count($tokens[2]);
                     // we start with 2, because 0 was already checked
                     for ($i = 2; $i < $count; $i += 2) {
-                        if ($tokens[2][$i] != $items[0]) {
+                        if (!$itemMatches($tokens[2][$i] ?? '', $expectedItem)) {
                             continue;
                         }
                         $data = $tokens[2][$i + 1];
@@ -869,13 +883,19 @@ public function fetch(array|string $items, array|int $from, mixed $to = null, in
      * @param string $rfc
      * @param int|string $uid set to IMAP::ST_UID or any string representing the UID - set to IMAP::ST_MSGN to use
      * message numbers instead.
+     * @param bool $peek true to fetch body using PEEK (do not set \Seen)
      *
      * @return Response
      * @throws RuntimeException
      */
-    public function content(int|array $uids, string $rfc = "RFC822", int|string $uid = IMAP::ST_UID): Response {
+    public function content(int|array $uids, string $rfc = "RFC822", int|string $uid = IMAP::ST_UID, bool $peek = false): Response {
         $rfc = $rfc ?? "RFC822";
-        $item = $rfc === "BODY" ? "BODY[TEXT]" : "$rfc.TEXT";
+        if ($peek && ($rfc === "RFC822" || $rfc === "BODY")) {
+            // BODY.PEEK keeps the message unread at protocol level.
+            $item = "BODY.PEEK[TEXT]";
+        } else {
+            $item = $rfc === "BODY" ? "BODY[TEXT]" : "$rfc.TEXT";
+        }
         return $this->fetch([$item], is_array($uids) ? $uids : [$uids], null, $uid);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Connection/Protocols/LegacyProtocol.php b/src/Connection/Protocols/LegacyProtocol.php
index 81b52f77..9d077958 100644
--- a/src/Connection/Protocols/LegacyProtocol.php
+++ b/src/Connection/Protocols/LegacyProtocol.php
@@ -252,18 +252,23 @@ public function folderStatus(string $folder = 'INBOX', $arguments = ['MESSAGES',
      * @param int|array $uids
      * @param string $rfc
      * @param int|string $uid set to IMAP::ST_UID if you pass message unique identifiers instead of numbers.
+     * @param bool $peek true to fetch body without setting \Seen
      *
      * @return Response
      */
-    public function content(int|array $uids, string $rfc = "RFC822", int|string $uid = IMAP::ST_UID): Response {
-        return $this->response()->wrap(function($response) use ($uids, $uid) {
+    public function content(int|array $uids, string $rfc = "RFC822", int|string $uid = IMAP::ST_UID, bool $peek = false): Response {
+        return $this->response()->wrap(function($response) use ($uids, $uid, $peek) {
             /** @var Response $response */
 
             $result = [];
             $uids = is_array($uids) ? $uids : [$uids];
+            $fetchOptions = ($uid === IMAP::ST_UID ? IMAP::ST_UID : IMAP::NIL);
+            if ($peek) {
+                $fetchOptions |= IMAP::FT_PEEK;
+            }
             foreach ($uids as $id) {
                 $response->addCommand("imap_fetchbody");
-                $result[$id] = \imap_fetchbody($this->stream, $id, "", $uid === IMAP::ST_UID ? IMAP::ST_UID : IMAP::NIL);
+                $result[$id] = \imap_fetchbody($this->stream, $id, "", $fetchOptions);
             }
 
             return $result;
diff --git a/src/Connection/Protocols/ProtocolInterface.php b/src/Connection/Protocols/ProtocolInterface.php
index eb6d7c9d..6679f215 100644
--- a/src/Connection/Protocols/ProtocolInterface.php
+++ b/src/Connection/Protocols/ProtocolInterface.php
@@ -134,11 +134,12 @@ public function folderStatus(string $folder = 'INBOX', $arguments = ['MESSAGES',
      * @param string $rfc
      * @param int|string $uid set to IMAP::ST_UID or any string representing the UID - set to IMAP::ST_MSGN to use
      * message numbers instead.
+     * @param bool $peek true to fetch body using a non-seen variant when supported
      *
      * @return Response
      * @throws RuntimeException
      */
-    public function content(int|array $uids, string $rfc = "RFC822", int|string $uid = IMAP::ST_UID): Response;
+    public function content(int|array $uids, string $rfc = "RFC822", int|string $uid = IMAP::ST_UID, bool $peek = false): Response;
 
     /**
      * Fetch message headers
diff --git a/src/Message.php b/src/Message.php
index 9d15a7b8..ea909cce 100755
--- a/src/Message.php
+++ b/src/Message.php
@@ -638,8 +638,9 @@ public function parseBody(): Message {
         $this->client->openFolder($this->folder_path);
 
         $sequence_id = $this->getSequenceId();
+        $usePeek = ($this->fetch_options === IMAP::FT_PEEK);
         try {
-            $contents = $this->client->getConnection()->content([$sequence_id], $this->client->rfc, $this->sequence)->validatedData();
+            $contents = $this->client->getConnection()->content([$sequence_id], $this->client->rfc, $this->sequence, $usePeek)->validatedData();
         } catch (Exceptions\RuntimeException $e) {
             throw new MessageContentFetchingException("failed to fetch content", 0, $e);
         }
diff --git a/src/Query/Query.php b/src/Query/Query.php
index bed64a95..ce22e9ce 100644
--- a/src/Query/Query.php
+++ b/src/Query/Query.php
@@ -246,7 +246,8 @@ protected function fetch(Collection $available_messages): array {
 
         $contents = [];
         if ($this->getFetchBody()) {
-            $contents = $this->client->getConnection()->content($uids, $this->client->rfc, $this->sequence)->validatedData();
+            $usePeek = ($this->getFetchOptions() === IMAP::FT_PEEK);
+            $contents = $this->client->getConnection()->content($uids, $this->client->rfc, $this->sequence, $usePeek)->validatedData();
         }
 
         return [