diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 3acfbb1f..cef8660e 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -2,4 +2,3 @@ httptools
 ujson
 uvloop
 aiofiles
-multidict
diff --git a/sanic/response.py b/sanic/response.py
index 9c7bd2b5..ba10b8c4 100644
--- a/sanic/response.py
+++ b/sanic/response.py
@@ -83,10 +83,10 @@ class HTTPResponse:
         if body is not None:
             try:
                 # Try to encode it regularly
-                self.body = body.encode('utf-8')
+                self.body = body.encode()
             except AttributeError:
                 # Convert it to a str if you can't
-                self.body = str(body).encode('utf-8')
+                self.body = str(body).encode()
         else:
             self.body = body_bytes
 
diff --git a/sanic/server.py b/sanic/server.py
index ade02564..711117dc 100644
--- a/sanic/server.py
+++ b/sanic/server.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import asyncio
 from functools import partial
 from inspect import isawaitable
-from multidict import CIMultiDict
 from signal import SIGINT, SIGTERM
 from time import time
 from httptools import HttpRequestParser
@@ -18,11 +17,30 @@ from .request import Request
 from .exceptions import RequestTimeout, PayloadTooLarge, InvalidUsage
 
 
+current_time = None
+
+
 class Signal:
     stopped = False
 
 
-current_time = None
+class CIDict(dict):
+    """
+    Case Insensitive dict where all keys are converted to lowercase
+    This does not maintain the inputted case when calling items() or keys()
+    in favor of speed, since headers are case insensitive
+    """
+    def get(self, key, default=None):
+        return super().get(key.casefold(), default)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        return super().__getitem__(key.casefold())
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
+        return super().__setitem__(key.casefold(), value)
+
+    def __contains__(self, key):
+        return super().__contains__(key.casefold())
 
 
 class HttpProtocol(asyncio.Protocol):
@@ -118,12 +136,12 @@ class HttpProtocol(asyncio.Protocol):
             exception = PayloadTooLarge('Payload Too Large')
             self.write_error(exception)
 
-        self.headers.append((name.decode(), value.decode('utf-8')))
+        self.headers.append((name.decode().casefold(), value.decode()))
 
     def on_headers_complete(self):
         self.request = Request(
             url_bytes=self.url,
-            headers=CIMultiDict(self.headers),
+            headers=CIDict(self.headers),
             version=self.parser.get_http_version(),
             method=self.parser.get_method().decode(),
             transport=self.transport