Incorrect special case for "return 204" removed. The special case in question leads to replies without body in configuration like location / { error_page 404 /zero; return 404; } location /zero { return 204; } while replies with empty body are expected per protocol specs. Correct one will look like if (status == NGX_HTTP_NO_CONTENT) { rc = ngx_http_send_header(r); if (rc == NGX_ERROR || r->header_only) { return rc; } return ngx_http_send_special(r, NGX_HTTP_LAST); } though it looks like it's better to drop this special case at all.