diff --git a/src/PostgREST/Request/ApiRequest.hs b/src/PostgREST/Request/ApiRequest.hs
index 72d17eee9..141242030 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/Request/ApiRequest.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/Request/ApiRequest.hs
@@ -334,11 +334,10 @@ userApiRequest confSchemas rootSpec dbStructure req reqBody
         split :: BS.ByteString -> [Text]
         split = map T.strip . T.split (==',') . toS
   representation
-    | hasPrefer (show Full) = Full
-    | hasPrefer (show None) = None
-    | otherwise             = if action == ActionCreate
-                                then HeadersOnly -- Assume the user wants the Location header(for POST) by default
-                                else None
+    | hasPrefer (show Full)        = Full
+    | hasPrefer (show None)        = None
+    | hasPrefer (show HeadersOnly) = HeadersOnly
+    | otherwise                    = None
   auth = fromMaybe "" $ lookupHeader hAuthorization
   tokenStr = case T.split (== ' ') (toS auth) of
     ("Bearer" : t : _) -> t
diff --git a/src/PostgREST/Request/Preferences.hs b/src/PostgREST/Request/Preferences.hs
index a85e40420..0e4dc1d82 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/Request/Preferences.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/Request/Preferences.hs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ data PreferRepresentation
 instance Show PreferRepresentation where
   show Full        = "return=representation"
   show None        = "return=minimal"
-  show HeadersOnly = mempty
+  show HeadersOnly = "return=headers-only"
 
 data PreferParameters
   = SingleObject    -- ^ Pass all parameters as a single json object to a stored procedure
diff --git a/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs b/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
index 7f007d1bc..2904f0891 100644
--- a/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
+++ b/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
@@ -111,15 +111,23 @@ spec actualPgVersion = do
                            , "Content-Range" <:> "*/*" ]
           }
 
-    context "requesting no representation" $
+    context "requesting headers only representation" $
       it "should not throw and return location header when selecting without PK" $
-        request methodPost "/projects?select=name,client_id" []
+        request methodPost "/projects?select=name,client_id" [("Prefer", "return=headers-only")]
           [json|{"id":11,"name":"New Project","client_id":2}|] `shouldRespondWith` ""
           { matchStatus  = 201
           , matchHeaders = [ "Location" <:> "/projects?id=eq.11"
                            , "Content-Range" <:> "*/*" ]
           }
 
+    context "requesting no representation" $
+      it "should not throw and return no location header when selecting without PK" $
+        request methodPost "/projects?select=name,client_id" []
+          [json|{"id":12,"name":"New Project","client_id":2}|] `shouldRespondWith` ""
+          { matchStatus  = 201
+          , matchHeaders = [ matchHeaderAbsent hLocation ]
+          }
+
     context "from an html form" $
       it "accepts disparate json types" $ do
         request methodPost "/menagerie"
@@ -140,7 +148,7 @@ spec actualPgVersion = do
             `shouldRespondWith`
               [json|""|]
 
-          post "/auto_incrementing_pk"
+          request methodPost "/auto_incrementing_pk" [("Prefer", "return=headers-only")]
               [json| { "non_nullable_string":"not null"} |]
             `shouldRespondWith`
               ""
@@ -508,13 +516,24 @@ spec actualPgVersion = do
           ""
           { matchStatus = 201 }
 
-  describe "Inserting into VIEWs" $
-    it "returns a location header" $
-      post "/compound_pk_view"
-          [json|{"k1":1,"k2":"test","extra":2}|]
-        `shouldRespondWith`
-          ""
-          { matchStatus  = 201
-          , matchHeaders = [ "Location" <:> "/compound_pk_view?k1=eq.1&k2=eq.test"
-                           , "Content-Range" <:> "*/*" ]
-          }
+  describe "Inserting into VIEWs" $ do
+    context "requesting no representation" $
+      it "succeeds with 201" $
+        post "/compound_pk_view"
+            [json|{"k1":1,"k2":"test","extra":2}|]
+          `shouldRespondWith`
+            ""
+            { matchStatus  = 201
+            , matchHeaders = [ matchHeaderAbsent hLocation ]
+            }
+
+    context "requesting header only representation" $
+      it "returns a location header" $
+        request methodPost "/compound_pk_view" [("Prefer", "return=headers-only")]
+            [json|{"k1":1,"k2":"test","extra":2}|]
+          `shouldRespondWith`
+            ""
+            { matchStatus  = 201
+            , matchHeaders = [ "Location" <:> "/compound_pk_view?k1=eq.1&k2=eq.test"
+                             , "Content-Range" <:> "*/*" ]
+            }