diff --git a/lib/middleware.js b/lib/middleware.js
index 9517ac2c7..6bd83fbab 100644
--- a/lib/middleware.js
+++ b/lib/middleware.js
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ module.exports.log_and_etagify = function(req, res, next) {
 
 				if (typeof(body) === 'object' && body != null) {
 					if (body.error) {
-						res._sinopia_error = body.reason || body.error
+						res._sinopia_error = body.error
 					}
 					body = JSON.stringify(body, undefined, '\t') + '\n'
 				}
diff --git a/test/functional/addtag.js b/test/functional/addtag.js
index 08dfdff53..593f5658b 100644
--- a/test/functional/addtag.js
+++ b/test/functional/addtag.js
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 	it('add tag - 404', function(cb) {
 		server.add_tag('testpkg-tag', 'tagtagtag', '0.0.1', function(res, body) {
 			assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-			assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-			assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such package'))
+			assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such package'))
 			cb()
 		})
 	})
@@ -35,8 +34,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 		it('add tag - bad ver', function(cb) {
 			server.add_tag('testpkg-tag', 'tagtagtag', '0.0.1-x', function(res, body) {
 				assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-				assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-				assert(~body.reason.indexOf('version doesn\'t exist'))
+				assert(~body.error.indexOf('version doesn\'t exist'))
 				cb()
 			})
 		})
diff --git a/test/functional/basic.js b/test/functional/basic.js
index e2bc202ab..d285770d3 100644
--- a/test/functional/basic.js
+++ b/test/functional/basic.js
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 	it('trying to fetch non-existent package', function(cb) {
 		server.get_package('testpkg', function(res, body) {
 			assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-			assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-			assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such package'))
+			assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such package'))
 			cb()
 		})
 	})
@@ -29,8 +28,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 		it('downloading non-existent tarball', function(cb) {
 			server.get_tarball('testpkg', 'blahblah', function(res, body) {
 				assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-				assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-				assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such file'))
+				assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such file'))
 				cb()
 			})
 		})
@@ -111,8 +109,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 	it('uploading new package version for bad pkg', function(cb) {
 		server.put_version('testpxg', '0.0.1', require('./lib/package')('testpxg'), function(res, body) {
 			assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-			assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-			assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such package'))
+			assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such package'))
 			cb()
 		})
 	})
diff --git a/test/functional/gh29.js b/test/functional/gh29.js
index 603bc30c6..3847db5d8 100644
--- a/test/functional/gh29.js
+++ b/test/functional/gh29.js
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 	it('downloading non-existent tarball #1 / srv2', function(cb) {
 		server2.get_tarball('testpkg-gh29', 'blahblah', function(res, body) {
 			assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-			assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-			assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such package'))
+			assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such package'))
 			cb()
 		})
 	})
@@ -33,8 +32,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 		it('downloading non-existent tarball #2 / srv2', function(cb) {
 			server2.get_tarball('testpkg-gh29', 'blahblah', function(res, body) {
 				assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-				assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-				assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such file'))
+				assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such file'))
 				cb()
 			})
 		})
diff --git a/test/functional/mirror.js b/test/functional/mirror.js
index 4234299e3..76206e9d8 100644
--- a/test/functional/mirror.js
+++ b/test/functional/mirror.js
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 	it('testing anti-loop', function(cb) {
 		server2.get_package('testloop', function(res, body) {
 			assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-			assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-			assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such package'))
+			assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such package'))
 			cb()
 		})
 	})
diff --git a/test/functional/tags.js b/test/functional/tags.js
index 81196c046..53d93dbfc 100644
--- a/test/functional/tags.js
+++ b/test/functional/tags.js
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@ module.exports = function() {
 		server.get_package('testexp_tags', function(res, body) {
 			// shouldn't exist yet
 			assert.equal(res.statusCode, 404)
-			assert.equal(body.error, 'not_found')
-			assert(~body.reason.indexOf('no such package'))
+			assert(~body.error.indexOf('no such package'))
 			cb()
 		})
 	})