diff --git a/hapi-fhir-server/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/method/BaseResourceReturningMethodBinding.java b/hapi-fhir-server/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/method/BaseResourceReturningMethodBinding.java
index 0042aadcbdd9..b7df1fac2302 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-server/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/method/BaseResourceReturningMethodBinding.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-server/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/method/BaseResourceReturningMethodBinding.java
@@ -277,16 +277,27 @@ public Object invokeServer(IRestfulServer<?> theServer, RequestDetails theReques
 		When we write directly to an HttpServletResponse, the invocation returns null. However, we still want to invoke
 		the SERVER_OUTGOING_RESPONSE pointcut.
 		*/
+
+		// if the response status  code is set by the method, respect it. Otherwise, use the default 200.
+		int responseCode = Constants.STATUS_HTTP_200_OK;
+		if (theRequest instanceof ServletRequestDetails) {
+			HttpServletResponse servletResponse = ((ServletRequestDetails) theRequest).getServletResponse();
+			if (servletResponse != null && servletResponse.getStatus() > 0) {
+				responseCode = servletResponse.getStatus();
+			}
+		}
+
 		if (response == null) {
 			ResponseDetails responseDetails = new ResponseDetails();
-			responseDetails.setResponseCode(Constants.STATUS_HTTP_200_OK);
+			responseDetails.setResponseCode(responseCode);
 			callOutgoingResponseHook(theRequest, responseDetails);
 			return null;
 		} else {
 			Set<SummaryEnum> summaryMode = RestfulServerUtils.determineSummaryMode(theRequest);
 			ResponseDetails responseDetails = new ResponseDetails();
 			responseDetails.setResponseResource(response);
-			responseDetails.setResponseCode(Constants.STATUS_HTTP_200_OK);
+			responseDetails.setResponseCode(responseCode);
+
 			if (!callOutgoingResponseHook(theRequest, responseDetails)) {
 				return null;
 			}