diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 3b77329f..24a6162e 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ Release date to be announced, codename to be decided.
 - the endpoint for the :meth:`flask.Module.add_url_rule` method
   is now optional to be consistent with the function of the
   same name on the application object.
+- added a :func:`flask.make_response` function that simplifies
+  creating response object instances in views.
 
 Version 0.5.2
 -------------
diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
index d7f887e4..f31563b4 100644
--- a/docs/api.rst
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -228,6 +228,8 @@ Useful Functions and Classes
 
 .. autofunction:: redirect
 
+.. autofunction:: make_response
+
 .. autofunction:: send_file
 
 .. autofunction:: send_from_directory
diff --git a/flask/__init__.py b/flask/__init__.py
index f4617271..93ada5f7 100644
--- a/flask/__init__.py
+++ b/flask/__init__.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from .app import Flask, Request, Response
 from .config import Config
 from .helpers import url_for, jsonify, json_available, flash, \
     send_file, send_from_directory, get_flashed_messages, \
-    get_template_attribute
+    get_template_attribute, make_response
 from .globals import current_app, g, request, session, _request_ctx_stack
 from .module import Module
 from .templating import render_template, render_template_string
diff --git a/flask/helpers.py b/flask/helpers.py
index fc309e67..6b57420c 100644
--- a/flask/helpers.py
+++ b/flask/helpers.py
@@ -101,6 +101,48 @@ def jsonify(*args, **kwargs):
         indent=None if request.is_xhr else 2), mimetype='application/json')
 
 
+def make_response(*args):
+    """Sometimes it is necessary to set additional headers in a view.  Because
+    views do not have to return response objects but can return a value that
+    is converted into a response object by Flask itself, it becomes tricky to
+    add headers to it.  This function can be called instead of using a return
+    and you will get a response object which you can use to attach headers.
+
+    If view looked like this and you want to add a new header::
+
+        def index():
+            return render_template('index.html', foo=42)
+
+    You can now do something like this::
+
+        def index():
+            response = make_response(render_template('index.html', foo=42))
+            response.headers['X-Parachutes'] = 'parachutes are cool'
+            return response
+
+    This function accepts the very same arguments you can return from a
+    view function.  This for example creates a response with a 404 error
+    code::
+
+        response = make_response(render_template('not_found.html', 404))
+
+    Internally this function does the following things:
+
+    -   if no arguments are passed, it creates a new response argument
+    -   if one argument is passed, :meth:`flask.Flask.make_response`
+        is invoked with it.
+    -   if more than one argument is passed, the arguments are passed
+        to the :meth:`flask.Flask.make_response` function as tuple.
+
+    .. versionadded:: 0.6
+    """
+    if not args:
+        return current_app.response_class()
+    if len(args) == 1:
+        args = args[0]
+    return current_app.make_response(args)
+
+
 def url_for(endpoint, **values):
     """Generates a URL to the given endpoint with the method provided.
     The endpoint is relative to the active module if modules are in use.
diff --git a/tests/flask_tests.py b/tests/flask_tests.py
index f2451223..ccf9b871 100644
--- a/tests/flask_tests.py
+++ b/tests/flask_tests.py
@@ -393,6 +393,24 @@ class BasicFunctionalityTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         assert rv.status_code == 400
         assert rv.mimetype == 'text/plain'
 
+    def test_make_response(self):
+        app = flask.Flask(__name__)
+        with app.test_request_context():
+            rv = flask.make_response()
+            assert rv.status_code == 200
+            assert rv.data == ''
+            assert rv.mimetype == 'text/html'
+
+            rv = flask.make_response('Awesome')
+            assert rv.status_code == 200
+            assert rv.data == 'Awesome'
+            assert rv.mimetype == 'text/html'
+
+            rv = flask.make_response('W00t', 404)
+            assert rv.status_code == 404
+            assert rv.data == 'W00t'
+            assert rv.mimetype == 'text/html'
+
     def test_url_generation(self):
         app = flask.Flask(__name__)
         @app.route('/hello/<name>', methods=['POST'])