diff --git a/src/pkg/http/client.go b/src/pkg/http/client.go
index 8c2c30124f..96bd4458ba 100644
--- a/src/pkg/http/client.go
+++ b/src/pkg/http/client.go
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ func Post(url string, bodyType string, body io.Reader) (r *Response, err os.Erro
 	req.Method = "POST"
 	req.ProtoMajor = 1
 	req.ProtoMinor = 1
+	req.Close = true
 	req.Body = nopCloser{body}
 	req.Header = map[string]string{
 		"Content-Type": bodyType,
diff --git a/src/pkg/http/requestwrite_test.go b/src/pkg/http/requestwrite_test.go
index 2b47e0b3b1..f39e8a86d5 100644
--- a/src/pkg/http/requestwrite_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/http/requestwrite_test.go
@@ -82,6 +82,43 @@ var reqWriteTests = []reqWriteTest{
 			"Transfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n" +
 			"6\r\nabcdef\r\n0\r\n\r\n",
 	},
+	// HTTP/1.1 POST => chunked coding; body; empty trailer
+	reqWriteTest{
+		Request{
+			Method: "POST",
+			URL: &URL{
+				Scheme: "http",
+				Host: "www.google.com",
+				Path: "/search",
+			},
+			ProtoMajor: 1,
+			ProtoMinor: 1,
+			Header: map[string]string{},
+			Close: true,
+			Body: nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString("abcdef")},
+			TransferEncoding: []string{"chunked"},
+		},
+
+		"POST /search HTTP/1.1\r\n" +
+			"Host: www.google.com\r\n" +
+			"User-Agent: Go http package\r\n" +
+			"Connection: close\r\n" +
+			"Transfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n" +
+			"6\r\nabcdef\r\n0\r\n\r\n",
+	},
+	// default to HTTP/1.1
+	reqWriteTest{
+		Request{
+			Method: "GET",
+			RawURL: "/search",
+			Host: "www.google.com",
+		},
+
+		"GET /search HTTP/1.1\r\n" +
+			"Host: www.google.com\r\n" +
+			"User-Agent: Go http package\r\n" +
+			"\r\n",
+	},
 }
 
 func TestRequestWrite(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/src/pkg/http/response.go b/src/pkg/http/response.go
index 87ca7f1cd1..28f002d9b8 100644
--- a/src/pkg/http/response.go
+++ b/src/pkg/http/response.go
@@ -188,9 +188,13 @@ func (resp *Response) Write(w io.Writer) os.Error {
 	resp.RequestMethod = strings.ToUpper(resp.RequestMethod)
 
 	// Status line
-	text, ok := statusText[resp.StatusCode]
-	if !ok {
-		text = "status code " + strconv.Itoa(resp.StatusCode)
+	text := resp.Status
+	if text == "" {
+		var ok bool
+		text, ok = statusText[resp.StatusCode]
+		if !ok {
+			text = "status code " + strconv.Itoa(resp.StatusCode)
+		}
 	}
 	io.WriteString(w, "HTTP/"+strconv.Itoa(resp.ProtoMajor)+".")
 	io.WriteString(w, strconv.Itoa(resp.ProtoMinor)+" ")
diff --git a/src/pkg/http/responsewrite_test.go b/src/pkg/http/responsewrite_test.go
index 6dd5a59123..1c7c5f72ae 100644
--- a/src/pkg/http/responsewrite_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/http/responsewrite_test.go
@@ -42,10 +42,11 @@ var respWriteTests = []respWriteTest{
 			Body: nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString("abcdef")},
 			ContentLength: 6,
 			TransferEncoding: []string{"chunked"},
-			Close: true, // TODO(petar): "Connection: close" is not written
+			Close: true,
 		},
 
 		"HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n" +
+			"Connection: close\r\n" +
 			"Transfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n" +
 			"6\r\nabcdef\r\n0\r\n\r\n",
 	},
diff --git a/src/pkg/http/transfer.go b/src/pkg/http/transfer.go
index a6d9a21a8d..017077a995 100644
--- a/src/pkg/http/transfer.go
+++ b/src/pkg/http/transfer.go
@@ -79,19 +79,27 @@ func noBodyExpected(requestMethod string) bool {
 }
 
 func (t *transferWriter) WriteHeader(w io.Writer) (err os.Error) {
+	if t.Close {
+		_, err = io.WriteString(w, "Connection: close\r\n")
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Write Content-Length and/or Transfer-Encoding whose values are a
 	// function of the sanitized field triple (Body, ContentLength,
 	// TransferEncoding)
 	if chunked(t.TransferEncoding) {
 		_, err = io.WriteString(w, "Transfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n")
-	} else {
-		if t.ContentLength > 0 || t.ResponseToHEAD {
-			io.WriteString(w, "Content-Length: ")
-			_, err = io.WriteString(w, strconv.Itoa64(t.ContentLength)+"\r\n")
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+	} else if t.ContentLength > 0 || t.ResponseToHEAD {
+		io.WriteString(w, "Content-Length: ")
+		_, err = io.WriteString(w, strconv.Itoa64(t.ContentLength)+"\r\n")
+		if err != nil {
+			return
 		}
-	}
-	if err != nil {
-		return
 	}
 
 	// Write Trailer header
@@ -184,6 +192,11 @@ func readTransfer(msg interface{}, r *bufio.Reader) (err os.Error) {
 		t.RequestMethod = "GET"
 	}
 
+	// Default to HTTP/1.1
+	if t.ProtoMajor == 0 && t.ProtoMinor == 0 {
+		t.ProtoMajor, t.ProtoMinor = 1, 1
+	}
+
 	// Transfer encoding, content length
 	t.TransferEncoding, err = fixTransferEncoding(t.Header)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -347,6 +360,7 @@ func shouldClose(major, minor int, header map[string]string) bool {
 		// TODO: Should split on commas, toss surrounding white space,
 		// and check each field.
 		if v == "close" {
+			header["Connection"] = "", false
 			return true
 		}
 	}