diff --git a/cmd/stepd/handler.go b/cmd/stepd/handler.go
index 3bbb120..b2951b8 100644
--- a/cmd/stepd/handler.go
+++ b/cmd/stepd/handler.go
@@ -84,9 +84,10 @@ func (this *handler) serveFile (res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, file
 	}
 
 	// set up HTTP response recorder
-	recorder := step.HTTPResponseRecorder {
-		Status: http.StatusOK,
-		Head:   res.Header(),
+	recorder := step.HTTPResponseRecorder { }
+	resetRecorder := func () {
+		recorder.Reset()
+		recorder.Header = res.Header().Clone()
 	}
 	if contentType, ok := document.FrontMatter["content-type"]; ok {
 		recorder.Header().Set("Content-Type", contentType)
@@ -99,9 +100,9 @@ func (this *handler) serveFile (res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, file
 
 	// execute document
 	data := step.HTTPData { }
-	data.Res.Header      = make(http.Header)
+	data.Res.Header      = recorder.Header
 	data.Res.WriteHeader = recorder.WriteHeader
-	data.Res.Reset       = recorder.Reset
+	data.Res.Reset       = resetRecorder
 	data.Req = req
 	err = document.Execute(&recorder, step.ExecutionData {
 		Data: data,