diff --git a/collects/web-server/http/response-structs.rkt b/collects/web-server/http/response-structs.rkt
index 202288a7c5..c6fb464fc4 100644
--- a/collects/web-server/http/response-structs.rkt
+++ b/collects/web-server/http/response-structs.rkt
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 (define (response/full->size resp)
   (apply + (map bytes-length (response/full-body resp))))
 
-(define (normalize-response close? resp)
+(define (normalize-response resp [close? #f])
   (cond
     [(response/full? resp)
      (make-response/full 
@@ -43,14 +43,14 @@
           (response/incremental-generator resp)))]
     [(response/basic? resp)
      (normalize-response
-      close?
       (make-response/full 
        (response/basic-code resp)
        (response/basic-message resp)
        (response/basic-seconds resp)
        (response/basic-mime resp)
        (response/basic-headers resp)
-       empty))]
+       empty)
+      close?)]
     [(and (list? resp)
           (not (empty? resp))
           (bytes? (first resp))
@@ -58,18 +58,18 @@
                                   (bytes? i)))
                   (rest resp)))
      (normalize-response
-      close?
       (make-response/full 
        200 #"Okay" (current-seconds) (car resp) empty
        (map (lambda (bs)
               (if (string? bs)
                   (string->bytes/utf-8 bs)
                   bs))
-            (rest resp))))]
+            (rest resp)))
+      close?)]
     [else
      (normalize-response
-      close?
-      (make-xexpr-response resp))]))
+      (make-xexpr-response resp)
+      close?)]))
 
 (define (make-xexpr-response
          xexpr
@@ -108,5 +108,5 @@
   ((pretty-xexpr/c)
    (#:code number? #:message bytes? #:seconds number? #:mime-type bytes? #:headers (listof header?))
    . ->* . response/full?)]
- [normalize-response (boolean? response/c . -> . (or/c response/full? response/incremental?))]
+ [normalize-response ((response/c) (boolean?) . ->* . (or/c response/full? response/incremental?))]
  [TEXT/HTML-MIME-TYPE bytes?])
diff --git a/collects/web-server/http/response.rkt b/collects/web-server/http/response.rkt
index e342355bd8..a474bbbf8d 100644
--- a/collects/web-server/http/response.rkt
+++ b/collects/web-server/http/response.rkt
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
   (output-response/method conn resp #"GET"))
 
 (define (output-response/method conn resp meth)
-  (define bresp (normalize-response (connection-close? conn) resp))
+  (define bresp (normalize-response resp (connection-close? conn)))
   (output-headers+response/basic conn bresp)
   (unless (bytes-ci=? meth #"HEAD")
     (output-response/basic conn bresp)))
diff --git a/collects/web-server/scribblings/http.scrbl b/collects/web-server/scribblings/http.scrbl
index 605beb40da..2de2af8a3a 100644
--- a/collects/web-server/scribblings/http.scrbl
+++ b/collects/web-server/scribblings/http.scrbl
@@ -246,9 +246,12 @@ Here is an example typical of what you will find in many applications:
   (list (string->bytes/utf-8 (xexpr->string xexpr))))
  ]}
                          
-@defproc[(normalize-response [close? boolean?] [response response/c])
+@defproc[(normalize-response [response response/c] [close? boolean? #f])
          (or/c response/full? response/incremental?)]{
  Coerces @racket[response] into a full response, filling in additional details where appropriate.
+         
+ @racket[close?] represents whether the connection will be closed after the response is sent (i.e. if HTTP 1.0 is being used.) The accuracy of this only matters if
+@racket[response] is a @racket[response/incremental?].
 }
 
 @defthing[TEXT/HTML-MIME-TYPE bytes?]{Equivalent to @racket[#"text/html; charset=utf-8"].}