diff --git a/swift/proxy/server.py b/swift/proxy/server.py
index 05f207c872..a1de162fc8 100644
--- a/swift/proxy/server.py
+++ b/swift/proxy/server.py
@@ -300,11 +300,25 @@ class Controller(object):
     """Base WSGI controller class for the proxy"""
     server_type = _('Base')
 
+    # Ensure these are all lowercase
+    pass_through_headers = []
+
     def __init__(self, app):
         self.account_name = None
         self.app = app
         self.trans_id = '-'
 
+    def transfer_headers(self, src_headers, dst_headers):
+        x_remove = 'x-remove-%s-meta-' % self.server_type.lower()
+        x_meta = 'x-%s-meta-' % self.server_type.lower()
+        dst_headers.update((k.lower().replace('-remove', '', 1), '')
+                           for k in src_headers
+                           if k.lower().startswith(x_remove))
+        dst_headers.update((k.lower(), v)
+                           for k, v in src_headers.iteritems()
+                           if k.lower() in self.pass_through_headers or
+                              k.lower().startswith(x_meta))
+
     def error_increment(self, node):
         """
         Handles incrementing error counts when talking to nodes.
@@ -1503,9 +1517,7 @@ class ContainerController(Controller):
                         'X-Account-Partition': account_partition,
                         'X-Account-Device': account['device'],
                         'Connection': 'close'}
-            nheaders.update(value for value in req.headers.iteritems()
-                if value[0].lower() in self.pass_through_headers or
-                   value[0].lower().startswith('x-container-meta-'))
+            self.transfer_headers(req.headers, nheaders)
             headers.append(nheaders)
         if self.app.memcache:
             cache_key = get_container_memcache_key(self.account_name,
@@ -1530,9 +1542,7 @@ class ContainerController(Controller):
         headers = {'X-Timestamp': normalize_timestamp(time.time()),
                    'x-trans-id': self.trans_id,
                    'Connection': 'close'}
-        headers.update(value for value in req.headers.iteritems()
-            if value[0].lower() in self.pass_through_headers or
-               value[0].lower().startswith('x-container-meta-'))
+        self.transfer_headers(req.headers, headers)
         if self.app.memcache:
             cache_key = get_container_memcache_key(self.account_name,
                                                    self.container_name)
@@ -1620,8 +1630,7 @@ class AccountController(Controller):
         headers = {'X-Timestamp': normalize_timestamp(time.time()),
                    'x-trans-id': self.trans_id,
                    'Connection': 'close'}
-        headers.update(value for value in req.headers.iteritems()
-            if value[0].lower().startswith('x-account-meta-'))
+        self.transfer_headers(req.headers, headers)
         if self.app.memcache:
             self.app.memcache.delete('account%s' % req.path_info.rstrip('/'))
         return self.make_requests(req, self.app.account_ring,
@@ -1638,8 +1647,7 @@ class AccountController(Controller):
         headers = {'X-Timestamp': normalize_timestamp(time.time()),
                    'X-Trans-Id': self.trans_id,
                    'Connection': 'close'}
-        headers.update(value for value in req.headers.iteritems()
-            if value[0].lower().startswith('x-account-meta-'))
+        self.transfer_headers(req.headers, headers)
         if self.app.memcache:
             self.app.memcache.delete('account%s' % req.path_info.rstrip('/'))
         resp = self.make_requests(req, self.app.account_ring,
diff --git a/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py b/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
index 6b1750b1ce..82cf9f144e 100644
--- a/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
+++ b/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
@@ -3372,19 +3372,26 @@ class TestContainerController(unittest.TestCase):
     def metadata_helper(self, method):
         for test_header, test_value in (
                 ('X-Container-Meta-TestHeader', 'TestValue'),
-                ('X-Container-Meta-TestHeader', '')):
+                ('X-Container-Meta-TestHeader', ''),
+                ('X-Remove-Container-Meta-TestHeader', 'anything')):
             test_errors = []
 
             def test_connect(ipaddr, port, device, partition, method, path,
                              headers=None, query_string=None):
                 if path == '/a/c':
+                    find_header = test_header
+                    find_value = test_value
+                    if find_header.lower().startswith('x-remove-'):
+                        find_header = \
+                            find_header.lower().replace('-remove', '', 1)
+                        find_value = ''
                     for k, v in headers.iteritems():
-                        if k.lower() == test_header.lower() and \
-                                v == test_value:
+                        if k.lower() == find_header.lower() and \
+                                v == find_value:
                             break
                     else:
                         test_errors.append('%s: %s not in %s' %
-                                           (test_header, test_value, headers))
+                                           (find_header, find_value, headers))
             with save_globals():
                 controller = \
                     proxy_server.ContainerController(self.app, 'a', 'c')
@@ -3788,19 +3795,26 @@ class TestAccountController(unittest.TestCase):
     def metadata_helper(self, method):
         for test_header, test_value in (
                 ('X-Account-Meta-TestHeader', 'TestValue'),
-                ('X-Account-Meta-TestHeader', '')):
+                ('X-Account-Meta-TestHeader', ''),
+                ('X-Remove-Account-Meta-TestHeader', 'anything')):
             test_errors = []
 
             def test_connect(ipaddr, port, device, partition, method, path,
                              headers=None, query_string=None):
                 if path == '/a':
+                    find_header = test_header
+                    find_value = test_value
+                    if find_header.lower().startswith('x-remove-'):
+                        find_header = \
+                            find_header.lower().replace('-remove', '', 1)
+                        find_value = ''
                     for k, v in headers.iteritems():
-                        if k.lower() == test_header.lower() and \
-                                v == test_value:
+                        if k.lower() == find_header.lower() and \
+                                v == find_value:
                             break
                     else:
                         test_errors.append('%s: %s not in %s' %
-                                           (test_header, test_value, headers))
+                                           (find_header, find_value, headers))
             with save_globals():
                 self.app.allow_account_management = True
                 controller = \