diff --git a/include/http_protocol.h b/include/http_protocol.h
index 43a0a6aa45..c52b141d1f 100644
--- a/include/http_protocol.h
+++ b/include/http_protocol.h
@@ -165,6 +165,13 @@ API_EXPORT(int) ap_rflush(request_rec *r);
 
 API_EXPORT(int) ap_index_of_response(int status);
 
+/* 
+ * Return the Status-Line for a given status code (excluding the
+ * HTTP-Version field). If an invalid or unknown status code is
+ * passed, "500 Internal Server Error" will be returned. 
+ */
+API_EXPORT(const char *) ap_get_status_line(int status);
+
 /* Reading a block of data from the client connection (e.g., POST arg) */
 
 API_EXPORT(int) ap_setup_client_block(request_rec *r, int read_policy);
diff --git a/modules/dav/main/mod_dav.c b/modules/dav/main/mod_dav.c
index ab7709313e..a320a9a179 100644
--- a/modules/dav/main/mod_dav.c
+++ b/modules/dav/main/mod_dav.c
@@ -595,10 +595,12 @@ static void dav_send_multistatus(request_rec *r, int status,
 	ap_rputs("</D:href>" DEBUG_CR, r);
 
 	if (first->propresult.propstats == NULL) {
-	    /* ### it would be nice to get a status line from Apache */
+	    /* use the Status-Line text from Apache.  Note, this will
+	     * default to 500 Internal Server Error if first->status
+	     * is not a known (or valid) status code. */
 	    ap_rprintf(r,
-		       "<D:status>HTTP/1.1 %d status text goes here</D:status>"
-		       DEBUG_CR, first->status);
+		       "<D:status>HTTP/1.1 %s</D:status>" DEBUG_CR, 
+		       ap_get_status_line(first->status));
 	}
 	else {
 	    /* assume this includes <propstat> and is quoted properly */
diff --git a/modules/http/http_protocol.c b/modules/http/http_protocol.c
index bb08a8ee40..4fd5608370 100644
--- a/modules/http/http_protocol.c
+++ b/modules/http/http_protocol.c
@@ -1466,6 +1466,11 @@ API_EXPORT(int) ap_index_of_response(int status)
     return LEVEL_500;           /* 600 or above is also illegal */
 }
 
+API_EXPORT(const char *) ap_get_status_line(int status)
+{
+    return status_lines[ap_index_of_response(status)];
+}
+
 /* Send a single HTTP header field to the client.  Note that this function
  * is used in calls to table_do(), so their interfaces are co-dependent.
  * In other words, don't change this one without checking table_do in alloc.c.