diff --git a/swift/account/server.py b/swift/account/server.py
index b1cc32ad63..53a7f2a8ea 100644
--- a/swift/account/server.py
+++ b/swift/account/server.py
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ from __future__ import with_statement
 import os
 import time
 import traceback
-from xml.sax import saxutils
 
 from eventlet import Timeout
 
 import swift.common.db
+from swift.account.utils import account_listing_response, \
+    account_listing_content_type
 from swift.common.db import AccountBroker
 from swift.common.utils import get_logger, get_param, hash_path, public, \
     normalize_timestamp, storage_directory, config_true_value, \
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ from swift.common.db_replicator import ReplicatorRpc
 from swift.common.swob import HTTPAccepted, HTTPBadRequest, \
     HTTPCreated, HTTPForbidden, HTTPInternalServerError, \
     HTTPMethodNotAllowed, HTTPNoContent, HTTPNotFound, \
-    HTTPPreconditionFailed, HTTPConflict, Request, Response, \
+    HTTPPreconditionFailed, HTTPConflict, Request, \
     HTTPInsufficientStorage, HTTPNotAcceptable
 
 
@@ -219,17 +220,13 @@ class AccountController(object):
                                                   ACCOUNT_LISTING_LIMIT)
             marker = get_param(req, 'marker', '')
             end_marker = get_param(req, 'end_marker')
-            query_format = get_param(req, 'format')
         except UnicodeDecodeError, err:
             return HTTPBadRequest(body='parameters not utf8',
                                   content_type='text/plain', request=req)
-        if query_format:
-            req.accept = FORMAT2CONTENT_TYPE.get(query_format.lower(),
-                                                 FORMAT2CONTENT_TYPE['plain'])
-        out_content_type = req.accept.best_match(
-            ['text/plain', 'application/json', 'application/xml', 'text/xml'])
-        if not out_content_type:
-            return HTTPNotAcceptable(request=req)
+        out_content_type, error = account_listing_content_type(req)
+        if error:
+            return error
+
         if self.mount_check and not check_mount(self.root, drive):
             return HTTPInsufficientStorage(drive=drive, request=req)
         broker = self._get_account_broker(drive, part, account)
@@ -237,53 +234,9 @@ class AccountController(object):
         broker.stale_reads_ok = True
         if broker.is_deleted():
             return HTTPNotFound(request=req)
-        info = broker.get_info()
-        resp_headers = {
-            'X-Account-Container-Count': info['container_count'],
-            'X-Account-Object-Count': info['object_count'],
-            'X-Account-Bytes-Used': info['bytes_used'],
-            'X-Timestamp': info['created_at'],
-            'X-PUT-Timestamp': info['put_timestamp']}
-        resp_headers.update((key, value)
-                            for key, (value, timestamp) in
-                            broker.metadata.iteritems() if value != '')
-        account_list = broker.list_containers_iter(limit, marker, end_marker,
-                                                   prefix, delimiter)
-        if out_content_type == 'application/json':
-            data = []
-            for (name, object_count, bytes_used, is_subdir) in account_list:
-                if is_subdir:
-                    data.append({'subdir': name})
-                else:
-                    data.append({'name': name, 'count': object_count,
-                                'bytes': bytes_used})
-            account_list = json.dumps(data)
-        elif out_content_type.endswith('/xml'):
-            output_list = ['<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>',
-                           '<account name="%s">' % account]
-            for (name, object_count, bytes_used, is_subdir) in account_list:
-                name = saxutils.escape(name)
-                if is_subdir:
-                    output_list.append('<subdir name="%s" />' % name)
-                else:
-                    item = '<container><name>%s</name><count>%s</count>' \
-                           '<bytes>%s</bytes></container>' % \
-                           (name, object_count, bytes_used)
-                    output_list.append(item)
-            output_list.append('</account>')
-            account_list = '\n'.join(output_list)
-        else:
-            if not account_list:
-                resp_headers['Content-Type'] = req.accept.best_match(
-                    ['text/plain', 'application/json',
-                     'application/xml', 'text/xml'])
-                return HTTPNoContent(request=req, headers=resp_headers,
-                                     charset='utf-8')
-            account_list = '\n'.join(r[0] for r in account_list) + '\n'
-        ret = Response(body=account_list, request=req, headers=resp_headers)
-        ret.content_type = out_content_type
-        ret.charset = 'utf-8'
-        return ret
+        return account_listing_response(account, req, out_content_type, broker,
+                                        limit, marker, end_marker, prefix,
+                                        delimiter)
 
     @public
     @timing_stats()
diff --git a/swift/account/utils.py b/swift/account/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..20dbc0aa6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swift/account/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2010-2013 OpenStack, LLC.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import time
+from xml.sax import saxutils
+
+from swift.common.constraints import FORMAT2CONTENT_TYPE
+from swift.common.swob import HTTPOk, HTTPNoContent, HTTPNotAcceptable, \
+    HTTPBadRequest
+from swift.common.utils import get_param, json, normalize_timestamp
+
+
+class FakeAccountBroker(object):
+    """
+    Quacks like an account broker, but doesn't actually do anything. Responds
+    like an account broker would for a real, empty account with no metadata.
+    """
+    def get_info(self):
+        now = normalize_timestamp(time.time())
+        return {'container_count': 0,
+                'object_count': 0,
+                'bytes_used': 0,
+                'created_at': now,
+                'put_timestamp': now}
+
+    def list_containers_iter(self, *_, **__):
+        return []
+
+    @property
+    def metadata(self):
+        return {}
+
+
+def account_listing_content_type(req):
+    """
+    Figure out the content type of an account-listing response.
+
+    Returns a 2-tuple: (content_type, error). Only one of them will be set;
+    the other will be None.
+    """
+    try:
+        query_format = get_param(req, 'format')
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        return (None, HTTPBadRequest(body='parameters not utf8',
+                                     content_type='text/plain', request=req))
+    if query_format:
+        req.accept = FORMAT2CONTENT_TYPE.get(query_format.lower(),
+                                             FORMAT2CONTENT_TYPE['plain'])
+    content_type = req.accept.best_match(
+        ['text/plain', 'application/json', 'application/xml', 'text/xml'])
+    if not content_type:
+        return (None, HTTPNotAcceptable(request=req))
+    else:
+        return (content_type, None)
+
+
+def account_listing_response(account, req, response_content_type, broker=None,
+                             limit='', marker='', end_marker='', prefix='',
+                             delimiter=''):
+    if broker is None:
+        broker = FakeAccountBroker()
+
+    info = broker.get_info()
+    resp_headers = {
+        'X-Account-Container-Count': info['container_count'],
+        'X-Account-Object-Count': info['object_count'],
+        'X-Account-Bytes-Used': info['bytes_used'],
+        'X-Timestamp': info['created_at'],
+        'X-PUT-Timestamp': info['put_timestamp']}
+    resp_headers.update((key, value)
+                        for key, (value, timestamp) in
+                        broker.metadata.iteritems() if value != '')
+
+    account_list = broker.list_containers_iter(limit, marker, end_marker,
+                                               prefix, delimiter)
+    if response_content_type == 'application/json':
+        data = []
+        for (name, object_count, bytes_used, is_subdir) in account_list:
+            if is_subdir:
+                data.append({'subdir': name})
+            else:
+                data.append({'name': name, 'count': object_count,
+                             'bytes': bytes_used})
+        account_list = json.dumps(data)
+    elif response_content_type.endswith('/xml'):
+        output_list = ['<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>',
+                       '<account name="%s">' % account]
+        for (name, object_count, bytes_used, is_subdir) in account_list:
+            name = saxutils.escape(name)
+            if is_subdir:
+                output_list.append('<subdir name="%s" />' % name)
+            else:
+                item = '<container><name>%s</name><count>%s</count>' \
+                       '<bytes>%s</bytes></container>' % \
+                       (name, object_count, bytes_used)
+                output_list.append(item)
+        output_list.append('</account>')
+        account_list = '\n'.join(output_list)
+    else:
+        if not account_list:
+            resp = HTTPNoContent(request=req, headers=resp_headers)
+            resp.content_type = response_content_type
+            resp.charset = 'utf-8'
+            return resp
+        account_list = '\n'.join(r[0] for r in account_list) + '\n'
+    ret = HTTPOk(body=account_list, request=req, headers=resp_headers)
+    ret.content_type = response_content_type
+    ret.charset = 'utf-8'
+    return ret
diff --git a/swift/common/utils.py b/swift/common/utils.py
index fbf92eb1ec..6c012b80b8 100644
--- a/swift/common/utils.py
+++ b/swift/common/utils.py
@@ -1021,7 +1021,7 @@ def storage_directory(datadir, partition, hash):
 
 def hash_path(account, container=None, object=None, raw_digest=False):
     """
-    Get the connonical hash for an account/container/object
+    Get the canonical hash for an account/container/object
 
     :param account: Account
     :param container: Container
diff --git a/swift/proxy/controllers/account.py b/swift/proxy/controllers/account.py
index 959b336a78..d3ddaa816f 100644
--- a/swift/proxy/controllers/account.py
+++ b/swift/proxy/controllers/account.py
@@ -24,15 +24,15 @@
 #   These shenanigans are to ensure all related objects can be garbage
 # collected. We've seen objects hang around forever otherwise.
 
-import time
 from urllib import unquote
 
-from swift.common.utils import normalize_timestamp, public
+from swift.account.utils import account_listing_response, \
+    account_listing_content_type
+from swift.common.utils import public
 from swift.common.constraints import check_metadata, MAX_ACCOUNT_NAME_LENGTH
 from swift.common.http import HTTP_NOT_FOUND
 from swift.proxy.controllers.base import Controller, get_account_memcache_key
-from swift.common.swob import HTTPBadRequest, HTTPMethodNotAllowed, \
-    HTTPNoContent
+from swift.common.swob import HTTPBadRequest, HTTPMethodNotAllowed
 
 
 class AccountController(Controller):
@@ -59,15 +59,11 @@ class AccountController(Controller):
             req, _('Account'), self.app.account_ring, partition,
             req.path_info.rstrip('/'))
         if resp.status_int == HTTP_NOT_FOUND and self.app.account_autocreate:
-            # Fake a response
-            headers = {'Content-Length': '0',
-                       'Accept-Ranges': 'bytes',
-                       'Content-Type': 'text/plain; charset=utf-8',
-                       'X-Timestamp': normalize_timestamp(time.time()),
-                       'X-Account-Bytes-Used': '0',
-                       'X-Account-Container-Count': '0',
-                       'X-Account-Object-Count': '0'}
-            resp = HTTPNoContent(request=req, headers=headers)
+            content_type, error = account_listing_content_type(req)
+            if error:
+                return error
+            return account_listing_response(self.account_name, req,
+                                            content_type)
         return resp
 
     @public
diff --git a/test/probe/test_account_get_fake_responses_match.py b/test/probe/test_account_get_fake_responses_match.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..ede99e79fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/probe/test_account_get_fake_responses_match.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python -u
+# Copyright (c) 2010-2013 OpenStack, LLC.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+# implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import httplib
+import re
+import unittest
+
+from swiftclient import client, get_auth
+from test.probe.common import kill_servers, reset_environment
+from urlparse import urlparse
+
+
+class TestAccountGetFakeResponsesMatch(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        (self.pids, self.port2server, self.account_ring, self.container_ring,
+         self.object_ring, self.url, self.token,
+         self.account, self.configs) = reset_environment()
+        self.url, self.token = get_auth(
+            'http://127.0.0.1:8080/auth/v1.0', 'admin:admin', 'admin')
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        kill_servers(self.port2server, self.pids)
+
+    def _account_path(self, account):
+        _, _, path, _, _, _ = urlparse(self.url)
+
+        basepath, _ = path.rsplit('/', 1)
+        return basepath + '/' + account
+
+    def _get(self, *a, **kw):
+        kw['method'] = 'GET'
+        return self._account_request(*a, **kw)
+
+    def _account_request(self, account, method, headers=None):
+        if headers is None:
+            headers = {}
+        headers['X-Auth-Token'] = self.token
+
+        scheme, netloc, path, _, _, _ = urlparse(self.url)
+        host, port = netloc.split(':')
+        port = int(port)
+
+        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(host, port)
+        conn.request(method, self._account_path(account), headers=headers)
+        resp = conn.getresponse()
+        if resp.status // 100 != 2:
+            raise Exception("Unexpected status %s\n%s" %
+                            (resp.status, resp.read()))
+
+        response_headers = dict(resp.getheaders())
+        response_body = resp.read()
+        resp.close()
+        return response_headers, response_body
+
+    def test_main(self):
+        # Two accounts: "real" and "fake". The fake one doesn't have any .db
+        # files on disk; the real one does. The real one is empty.
+        #
+        # Make sure the important response fields match.
+
+        real_acct = "AUTH_real"
+        fake_acct = "AUTH_fake"
+
+        self._account_request(real_acct, 'POST',
+                              {'X-Account-Meta-Bert': 'Ernie'})
+
+        # text
+        real_headers, real_body = self._get(real_acct)
+        fake_headers, fake_body = self._get(fake_acct)
+
+        self.assertEqual(real_body, fake_body)
+        self.assertEqual(real_headers['content-type'],
+                         fake_headers['content-type'])
+
+        # json
+        real_headers, real_body = self._get(
+            real_acct, headers={'Accept': 'application/json'})
+        fake_headers, fake_body = self._get(
+            fake_acct, headers={'Accept': 'application/json'})
+
+        self.assertEqual(real_body, fake_body)
+        self.assertEqual(real_headers['content-type'],
+                         fake_headers['content-type'])
+
+        # xml
+        real_headers, real_body = self._get(
+            real_acct, headers={'Accept': 'application/xml'})
+        fake_headers, fake_body = self._get(
+            fake_acct, headers={'Accept': 'application/xml'})
+
+        # the account name is in the XML response
+        real_body = re.sub('AUTH_\w{4}', 'AUTH_someaccount', real_body)
+        fake_body = re.sub('AUTH_\w{4}', 'AUTH_someaccount', fake_body)
+
+        self.assertEqual(real_body, fake_body)
+        self.assertEqual(real_headers['content-type'],
+                         fake_headers['content-type'])
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/test/unit/account/test_server.py b/test/unit/account/test_server.py
index 4c018b4a15..255ac71dc6 100644
--- a/test/unit/account/test_server.py
+++ b/test/unit/account/test_server.py
@@ -406,6 +406,8 @@ class TestAccountController(unittest.TestCase):
         req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
         resp = self.controller.GET(req)
         self.assertEquals(resp.status_int, 204)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.headers['Content-Type'],
+                          'text/plain; charset=utf-8')
 
     def test_GET_empty_account_json(self):
         req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a?format=json',
@@ -415,6 +417,8 @@ class TestAccountController(unittest.TestCase):
                             environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
         resp = self.controller.GET(req)
         self.assertEquals(resp.status_int, 200)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.headers['Content-Type'],
+                          'application/json; charset=utf-8')
 
     def test_GET_empty_account_xml(self):
         req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a?format=xml',
@@ -424,6 +428,8 @@ class TestAccountController(unittest.TestCase):
                             environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
         resp = self.controller.GET(req)
         self.assertEquals(resp.status_int, 200)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.headers['Content-Type'],
+                          'application/xml; charset=utf-8')
 
     def test_GET_over_limit(self):
         req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a?limit=%d' %
diff --git a/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py b/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
index 56233d2b22..af1b50745a 100644
--- a/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
+++ b/test/unit/proxy/test_server.py
@@ -5854,6 +5854,69 @@ class TestAccountController(unittest.TestCase):
             test_status_map((204, 500, 404), 400)
 
 
+class TestAccountControllerFakeGetResponse(unittest.TestCase):
+    """
+    Test all the faked-out GET responses for accounts that don't exist. They
+    have to match the responses for empty accounts that really exist.
+    """
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.app = proxy_server.Application(None, FakeMemcache(),
+                                            account_ring=FakeRing(),
+                                            container_ring=FakeRing(),
+                                            object_ring=FakeRing)
+        self.app.memcache = FakeMemcacheReturnsNone()
+        self.controller = proxy_server.AccountController(self.app, 'acc')
+        self.controller.app.account_autocreate = True
+
+    def test_GET_autocreate_accept_json(self):
+        with save_globals():
+            set_http_connect(404)  # however many backends we ask, they all 404
+            req = Request.blank('/a', headers={'Accept': 'application/json'})
+
+            resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+            self.assertEqual(200, resp.status_int)
+            self.assertEqual('application/json; charset=utf-8',
+                             resp.headers['Content-Type'])
+            self.assertEqual("[]", resp.body)
+
+    def test_GET_autocreate_format_json(self):
+        with save_globals():
+            set_http_connect(404)  # however many backends we ask, they all 404
+            req = Request.blank('/a?format=json')
+
+            resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+            self.assertEqual(200, resp.status_int)
+            self.assertEqual('application/json; charset=utf-8',
+                             resp.headers['Content-Type'])
+            self.assertEqual("[]", resp.body)
+
+    def test_GET_autocreate_accept_xml(self):
+        with save_globals():
+            set_http_connect(404)  # however many backends we ask, they all 404
+            req = Request.blank('/a', headers={"Accept": "text/xml"})
+
+            resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+            self.assertEqual(200, resp.status_int)
+            self.assertEqual('text/xml; charset=utf-8',
+                             resp.headers['Content-Type'])
+            empty_xml_listing = ('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n'
+                                 '<account name="acc">\n</account>')
+            self.assertEqual(empty_xml_listing, resp.body)
+
+    def test_GET_autocreate_format_xml(self):
+        with save_globals():
+            set_http_connect(404)  # however many backends we ask, they all 404
+            req = Request.blank('/a?format=xml')
+
+            resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+            self.assertEqual(200, resp.status_int)
+            self.assertEqual('application/xml; charset=utf-8',
+                             resp.headers['Content-Type'])
+            empty_xml_listing = ('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n'
+                                 '<account name="acc">\n</account>')
+            self.assertEqual(empty_xml_listing, resp.body)
+
+
 class FakeObjectController(object):
 
     def __init__(self):