diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Response.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Response.php
index 3c37187cd1e6..ad55f8772af4 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Response.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Response.php
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ public function setStatusCode($code, $text = null)
         }
 
         if (null === $text) {
-            $this->statusText = isset(self::$statusTexts[$code]) ? self::$statusTexts[$code] : '';
+            $this->statusText = isset(self::$statusTexts[$code]) ? self::$statusTexts[$code] : 'unknown status';
 
             return $this;
         }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/ResponseTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/ResponseTest.php
index 72e143f9da43..f0539079c949 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/ResponseTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpFoundation/Tests/ResponseTest.php
@@ -647,7 +647,7 @@ public function getStatusCodeFixtures()
             array('200', null, 'OK'),
             array('200', false, ''),
             array('200', 'foo', 'foo'),
-            array('199', null, ''),
+            array('199', null, 'unknown status'),
             array('199', false, ''),
             array('199', 'foo', 'foo'),
         );