diff --git a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/RestfulServer.java b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/RestfulServer.java
index d9ebf418889..eb8cb3c9108 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/RestfulServer.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/RestfulServer.java
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ public abstract class RestfulServer extends HttpServlet {
 			// resourceMethod.get
 
 		} catch (AuthenticationException e) {
-            response.setStatus(401);
+            response.setStatus(e.getStatusCode());
             response.getWriter().write(e.getMessage());
         }
         catch (BaseServerResponseException e) {
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/exceptions/AuthenticationException.java b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/exceptions/AuthenticationException.java
index b24c538653c..bd49917fcf1 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/exceptions/AuthenticationException.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/server/exceptions/AuthenticationException.java
@@ -5,8 +5,19 @@ import javax.servlet.ServletException;
 /**
  * Created by dsotnikov on 3/10/2014.
  */
-public class AuthenticationException extends ServletException {
+public class AuthenticationException extends BaseServerResponseException {
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
+    public AuthenticationException() {
+        super(401, "Client unauthorized");
+    }
+
+    public AuthenticationException(String theMessage) {
+        super(401, theMessage);
+    }
+
+    public AuthenticationException(int theStatusCode, String theMessage) {
+        super(theStatusCode, theMessage);
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file