diff --git a/src/main/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeaders.java b/src/main/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeaders.java
index 6799eeb96..c121abced 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeaders.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeaders.java
@@ -95,9 +95,16 @@ public final class RawHeaders {
   public void setStatusLine(String statusLine) throws IOException {
     // H T T P / 1 . 1   2 0 0   T e m p o r a r y   R e d i r e c t
     // 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
+    if (this.responseMessage != null) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException("statusLine is already set");
+    }
+    // We allow empty message without leading white space since some servers
+    // do not send the white space when the message is empty.
+    boolean hasMessage = statusLine.length() > 13;
     if (!statusLine.startsWith("HTTP/1.")
+        || statusLine.length() < 12
         || statusLine.charAt(8) != ' '
-        || statusLine.charAt(12) != ' ') {
+        || (hasMessage && statusLine.charAt(12) != ' ')) {
       throw new ProtocolException("Unexpected status line: " + statusLine);
     }
     int httpMinorVersion = statusLine.charAt(7) - '0';
@@ -110,7 +117,7 @@ public final class RawHeaders {
     } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
       throw new ProtocolException("Unexpected status line: " + statusLine);
     }
-    this.responseMessage = statusLine.substring(13);
+    this.responseMessage = hasMessage ? statusLine.substring(13) : "";
     this.responseCode = responseCode;
     this.statusLine = statusLine;
     this.httpMinorVersion = httpMinorVersion;
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeadersTest.java b/src/test/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeadersTest.java
index 32649cf20..e5629f094 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeadersTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/squareup/okhttp/internal/http/RawHeadersTest.java
@@ -15,11 +15,13 @@
  */
 package com.squareup.okhttp.internal.http;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 public final class RawHeadersTest {
   @Test public void parseNameValueBlock() {
@@ -61,4 +63,40 @@ public final class RawHeadersTest {
     rawHeaders.add("Transfer-Encoding", "chunked");
     assertEquals(Arrays.<String>asList(), rawHeaders.toNameValueBlock());
   }
+
+  @Test public void statusMessage() throws IOException {
+    RawHeaders rawHeaders = new RawHeaders();
+    final String message = "Temporary Redirect";
+    final int version = 1;
+    final int code = 200;
+    rawHeaders.setStatusLine("HTTP/1." + version + " " + code + " " + message);
+    assertEquals(message, rawHeaders.getResponseMessage());
+    assertEquals(version, rawHeaders.getHttpMinorVersion());
+    assertEquals(code, rawHeaders.getResponseCode());
+  }
+
+  @Test public void statusMessageWithEmptyMessage() throws IOException {
+    RawHeaders rawHeaders = new RawHeaders();
+    final int version = 1;
+    final int code = 503;
+    rawHeaders.setStatusLine("HTTP/1." + version + " " + code + " ");
+    assertTrue(rawHeaders.getResponseMessage().isEmpty());
+    assertEquals(version, rawHeaders.getHttpMinorVersion());
+    assertEquals(code, rawHeaders.getResponseCode());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * This is not defined in the protocol but some servers won't add the leading
+   * empty space when the message is empty.
+   * http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec6.html#sec6.1
+   */
+  @Test public void statusMessageWithEmptyMessageAndNoLeadingSpace() throws IOException {
+    RawHeaders rawHeaders = new RawHeaders();
+    final int version = 1;
+    final int code = 503;
+    rawHeaders.setStatusLine("HTTP/1." + version + " " + code);
+    assertTrue(rawHeaders.getResponseMessage().isEmpty());
+    assertEquals(version, rawHeaders.getHttpMinorVersion());
+    assertEquals(code, rawHeaders.getResponseCode());
+  }
 }