diff --git a/lib/exe/xmlrpc.php b/lib/exe/xmlrpc.php
index 8b572d21321ea9c197d566260f1e3fb5370d4cee..93d7c70ba7925395de37e8db831471181561d32e 100644
--- a/lib/exe/xmlrpc.php
+++ b/lib/exe/xmlrpc.php
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ class dokuwiki_xmlrpc_server extends IXR_IntrospectionServer {
      */
     function call($methodname, $args){
         if(!in_array($methodname,$this->public_methods) && !$this->checkAuth()){
+            header('HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized');
             return new IXR_Error(-32603, 'server error. not authorized to call method "'.$methodname.'".');
         }
         return parent::call($methodname, $args);