diff --git a/vlib/net/http/response.v b/vlib/net/http/response.v
index 5f4b794165..31517827c8 100644
--- a/vlib/net/http/response.v
+++ b/vlib/net/http/response.v
@@ -22,10 +22,15 @@ fn (mut resp Response) free() {
 // Formats resp to bytes suitable for HTTP response transmission
 pub fn (resp Response) bytes() []byte {
 	// TODO: build []byte directly; this uses two allocations
+	return resp.bytestr().bytes()
+}
+
+// Formats resp to a string suitable for HTTP response transmission
+pub fn (resp Response) bytestr() string {
 	// TODO: cookies
 	return ('$resp.version $resp.status_code ${status_from_int(resp.status_code).str()}\r\n' + '${resp.header.render(
 		version: resp.version
-	)}\r\n' + '$resp.text').bytes()
+	)}\r\n' + '$resp.text')
 }
 
 // Parse a raw HTTP response into a Response object
diff --git a/vlib/vweb/vweb.v b/vlib/vweb/vweb.v
index a653cb25d9..293b1682f8 100644
--- a/vlib/vweb/vweb.v
+++ b/vlib/vweb/vweb.v
@@ -12,15 +12,59 @@ import strings
 import time
 
 pub const (
-	methods_with_form       = [http.Method.post, .put, .patch]
-	header_server           = 'Server: VWeb\r\n'
-	header_connection_close = 'Connection: close\r\n'
-	headers_close           = '$header_server$header_connection_close\r\n'
-	// TODO: use http.response structs
-	http_400                = 'HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\nContent-Type: text/plain\r\nContent-Length: 15\r\n${headers_close}400 Bad Request'
-	http_404                = 'HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found\r\nContent-Type: text/plain\r\nContent-Length: 13\r\n${headers_close}404 Not Found'
-	http_500                = 'HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error\r\nContent-Type: text/plain\r\n${headers_close}500 Internal Server Error'
-	mime_types              = map{
+	methods_with_form = [http.Method.post, .put, .patch]
+	http_400          = http.Response{
+		version: .v1_1
+		status_code: 400
+		text: '400 Bad Request'
+		header: fn () http.Header {
+			mut h := http.new_header()
+			h.add(.content_type, 'text/plain')
+			h.add(.content_length, '15')
+			close := headers_close()
+			for k in close.keys() {
+				for v in close.custom_values(k) {
+					h.add_custom(k, v) or {}
+				}
+			}
+			return h
+		}()
+	}
+	http_404 = http.Response{
+		version: .v1_1
+		status_code: 404
+		text: '404 Not Found'
+		header: fn () http.Header {
+			mut h := http.new_header()
+			h.add(.content_type, 'text/plain')
+			h.add(.content_length, '13')
+			close := headers_close()
+			for k in close.keys() {
+				for v in close.custom_values(k) {
+					h.add_custom(k, v) or {}
+				}
+			}
+			return h
+		}()
+	}
+	http_500 = http.Response{
+		version: .v1_1
+		status_code: 500
+		text: '500 Internal Server Error'
+		header: fn () http.Header {
+			mut h := http.new_header()
+			h.add(.content_type, 'text/plain')
+			h.add(.content_length, '25')
+			close := headers_close()
+			for k in close.keys() {
+				for v in close.custom_values(k) {
+					h.add_custom(k, v) or {}
+				}
+			}
+			return h
+		}()
+	}
+	mime_types = map{
 		'.css':  'text/css; charset=utf-8'
 		'.gif':  'image/gif'
 		'.htm':  'text/html; charset=utf-8'
@@ -117,7 +161,8 @@ pub fn (mut ctx Context) send_response_to_client(mimetype string, res string) bo
 	}
 	sb.write_string(ctx.headers)
 	sb.write_string('\r\n')
-	sb.write_string(vweb.headers_close)
+	sb.write_string(headers_close().str())
+	sb.write_string('\r\n')
 	if ctx.chunked_transfer {
 		mut i := 0
 		mut len := res.len
@@ -181,7 +226,7 @@ pub fn (mut ctx Context) server_error(ecode int) Result {
 	if ctx.done {
 		return Result{}
 	}
-	send_string(mut ctx.conn, vweb.http_500) or {}
+	send_string(mut ctx.conn, vweb.http_500.bytestr()) or {}
 	return Result{}
 }
 
@@ -191,7 +236,7 @@ pub fn (mut ctx Context) redirect(url string) Result {
 		return Result{}
 	}
 	ctx.done = true
-	send_string(mut ctx.conn, 'HTTP/1.1 302 Found\r\nLocation: $url$ctx.headers\r\n$vweb.headers_close') or {
+	send_string(mut ctx.conn, 'HTTP/1.1 302 Found\r\nLocation: $url$ctx.headers\r\n$headers_close().str()\r\n') or {
 		return Result{}
 	}
 	return Result{}
@@ -203,7 +248,7 @@ pub fn (mut ctx Context) not_found() Result {
 		return Result{}
 	}
 	ctx.done = true
-	send_string(mut ctx.conn, vweb.http_404) or {}
+	send_string(mut ctx.conn, vweb.http_404.bytestr()) or {}
 	return Result{}
 }
 
@@ -378,7 +423,7 @@ fn handle_conn<T>(mut conn net.TcpConn, mut app T) {
 		if 'multipart/form-data' in ct {
 			boundary := ct.filter(it.starts_with('boundary='))
 			if boundary.len != 1 {
-				send_string(mut conn, vweb.http_400) or {}
+				send_string(mut conn, vweb.http_400.bytestr()) or {}
 				return
 			}
 			form, files := parse_multipart_form(req.data, boundary[0][9..])
@@ -457,7 +502,7 @@ fn handle_conn<T>(mut conn net.TcpConn, mut app T) {
 		}
 	}
 	// site not found
-	send_string(mut conn, vweb.http_404) or {}
+	send_string(mut conn, vweb.http_404.bytestr()) or {}
 }
 
 fn route_matches(url_words []string, route_words []string) ?[]string {
@@ -553,7 +598,7 @@ fn serve_if_static<T>(mut app T, url urllib.URL) bool {
 		return false
 	}
 	data := os.read_file(static_file) or {
-		send_string(mut app.conn, vweb.http_404) or {}
+		send_string(mut app.conn, vweb.http_404.bytestr()) or {}
 		return true
 	}
 	app.send_response_to_client(mime_type, data)
@@ -662,3 +707,9 @@ pub type RawHtml = string
 fn send_string(mut conn net.TcpConn, s string) ? {
 	conn.write(s.bytes()) ?
 }
+
+fn headers_close() http.Header {
+	mut h := http.new_header(key: .connection, value: 'close')
+	h.add_custom('Server', 'VWeb') or {}
+	return h
+}