diff --git a/http/http-binding/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/http/binding/PayloadSerializer.java b/http/http-binding/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/http/binding/PayloadSerializer.java
index 140d97a63..9f3d7d76f 100644
--- a/http/http-binding/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/http/binding/PayloadSerializer.java
+++ b/http/http-binding/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/java/http/binding/PayloadSerializer.java
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ public void writeStruct(Schema schema, SerializableStruct struct) {
 
     @Override
     public <T> void writeList(Schema schema, T listState, int size, BiConsumer<T, ShapeSerializer> consumer) {
+        serializer.writePayloadContentType();
         structSerializer.writeList(schema, listState, size, consumer);
     }