diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index bbdb3fd97..ca397f880 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ shared_sources = common/FileUtil.cpp \
                  common/Util.cpp \
                  common/Authorization.cpp \
                  net/DelaySocket.cpp \
+                 net/HttpHelper.cpp \
                  net/Socket.cpp
 if ENABLE_SSL
 shared_sources += net/Ssl.cpp
@@ -263,6 +264,7 @@ shared_headers = common/Common.hpp \
                  common/SpookyV2.h \
                  net/DelaySocket.hpp \
                  net/FakeSocket.hpp \
+                 net/HttpHelper.hpp \
                  net/ServerSocket.hpp \
                  net/Socket.hpp \
                  net/WebSocketHandler.hpp \
diff --git a/net/HttpHelper.cpp b/net/HttpHelper.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c2db511e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/net/HttpHelper.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/* -*- Mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4; fill-column: 100 -*- */
+/*
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+ */
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "HttpHelper.hpp"
+
+#include <Poco/MemoryStream.h>
+#include <Poco/Net/HTTPRequest.h>
+#include <Poco/Net/HTTPResponse.h>
+#include <common/Common.hpp>
+#include <common/Util.hpp>
+#include <net/Socket.hpp>
+
+namespace HttpHelper
+{
+void sendError(int errorCode, const std::shared_ptr<StreamSocket>& socket, const std::string& body,
+               const std::string& extraHeader)
+{
+    std::ostringstream oss;
+    oss << "HTTP/1.1 " << errorCode << "\r\n"
+        << "Date: " << Util::getHttpTimeNow() << "\r\n"
+        << "User-Agent: " << WOPI_AGENT_STRING << "\r\n"
+        << "Content-Length: " << body.size() << "\r\n"
+        << extraHeader << "\r\n"
+        << body;
+    socket->send(oss.str());
+}
+
+void sendErrorAndShutdown(int errorCode, const std::shared_ptr<StreamSocket>& socket,
+                          const std::string& body, const std::string& extraHeader)
+{
+    sendError(errorCode, socket, body, extraHeader);
+    socket->shutdown();
+}
+} // namespace HttpHelper
+/* vim:set shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4 expandtab: */
diff --git a/net/HttpHelper.hpp b/net/HttpHelper.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..00c0e89d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/net/HttpHelper.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/* -*- Mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4; fill-column: 100 -*- */
+/*
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "Socket.hpp"
+
+namespace HttpHelper
+{
+/// Write headers and body for an error response.
+void sendError(int errorCode, const std::shared_ptr<StreamSocket>& socket,
+               const std::string& body = std::string(),
+               const std::string& extraHeader = std::string());
+
+/// Write headers and body for an error response. Afterwards, shutdown the socket.
+void sendErrorAndShutdown(int errorCode, const std::shared_ptr<StreamSocket>& socket,
+                          const std::string& body = std::string(),
+                          const std::string& extraHeader = std::string());
+
+} // namespace HttpHelper
+
+/* vim:set shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4 expandtab: */