diff --git a/lib/_http_client.js b/lib/_http_client.js
index 56aa6e05d0f3fe..ef15ae10a39da5 100644
--- a/lib/_http_client.js
+++ b/lib/_http_client.js
@@ -87,7 +87,10 @@ function ClientRequest(options, cb) {
                    new Buffer(options.auth).toString('base64'));
   }
 
-  if (method === 'GET' || method === 'HEAD' || method === 'CONNECT') {
+  if (method === 'GET' ||
+      method === 'HEAD' ||
+      method === 'DELETE' ||
+      method === 'CONNECT') {
     self.useChunkedEncodingByDefault = false;
   } else {
     self.useChunkedEncodingByDefault = true;
diff --git a/test/simple/test-http-client-default-headers-exist.js b/test/simple/test-http-client-default-headers-exist.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..c2274170f31dfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/simple/test-http-client-default-headers-exist.js
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+// Copyright Joyent, Inc. and other Node contributors.
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+// copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+// "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+// without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+// distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
+// persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
+// following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+// in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+// OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
+// NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
+// DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
+// USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+var common = require('../common');
+var assert = require('assert');
+var http = require('http');
+
+var expectedHeaders = {
+  'DELETE': ['host', 'connection'],
+  'GET': ['host', 'connection'],
+  'HEAD': ['host', 'connection'],
+  'POST': ['host', 'connection', 'transfer-encoding'],
+  'PUT': ['host', 'connection', 'transfer-encoding']
+};
+
+var expectedMethods = Object.keys(expectedHeaders);
+
+var requestCount = 0;
+
+var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+  requestCount++;
+  res.end();
+
+  assert(expectedHeaders.hasOwnProperty(req.method),
+         req.method + ' was an unexpected method');
+
+  var requestHeaders = Object.keys(req.headers);
+  requestHeaders.forEach(function(header) {
+    assert(expectedHeaders[req.method].indexOf(header.toLowerCase()) !== -1,
+           header + ' shoud not exist for method ' + req.method);
+  });
+
+  assert(requestHeaders.length === expectedHeaders[req.method].length,
+         'some headers were missing for method: ' + req.method);
+
+  if (expectedMethods.length === requestCount)
+    server.close();
+});
+
+server.listen(common.PORT, function() {
+  expectedMethods.forEach(function(method) {
+    http.request({
+      method: method,
+      port: common.PORT
+    }).end();
+  });
+});