diff --git a/handlers_test.go b/handlers_test.go
index 5f07184..529c2b2 100644
--- a/handlers_test.go
+++ b/handlers_test.go
@@ -145,5 +145,17 @@ func TestIssue53(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 		return nil
 	})
-
+}
+
+func TestIssue60(t *testing.T) {
+	srv, _ := createTemporaryRouter(t)
+
+	// Request a nonexistent static file
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "/css/nonexistent_file.css", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	srv.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
+	checkStatusCode(t, rr, http.StatusNotFound)
 }
diff --git a/router.go b/router.go
index 9def677..8a89a43 100644
--- a/router.go
+++ b/router.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ func (rl *rushlink) recoveryMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		defer func() {
 			defer func() {
 				if err := recover(); err != nil {
+					w.WriteHeader(500)
 					log.Printf("error: panic while recovering from another panic: %v\n", err)
 					debug.PrintStack()
 					fmt.Fprintf(w, "internal server error: %v\n", err)
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ func (rl *rushlink) recoveryMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 			}()
 
 			if err := recover(); err != nil {
+				w.WriteHeader(500)
 				log.Printf("error: %v\n", err)
 				debug.PrintStack()
 				rl.renderInternalServerError(w, r, err)
@@ -80,10 +82,13 @@ func (w *statusResponseWriter) WriteHeader(statusCode int) {
 }
 
 // CreateMainRouter creates the main Gorilla router for the application.
+//
+// This function will not populate the  router with an error-recovery and
+// metrics-reporting middleware. If these middleware are required, then the
+// caller should encapsulate this router inside of another router and register
+// the middlewares on the encapsulating router.
 func CreateMainRouter(rl *rushlink) *mux.Router {
 	router := mux.NewRouter()
-	router.Use(rl.recoveryMiddleware)
-	router.Use(rl.metricsMiddleware)
 	router.HandleFunc("/{path:img/"+staticFilenameExpr+"}", rl.staticGetHandler).Methods("GET", "HEAD")
 	router.HandleFunc("/{path:css/"+staticFilenameExpr+"}", rl.staticGetHandler).Methods("GET", "HEAD")
 	router.HandleFunc("/{path:js/"+staticFilenameExpr+"}", rl.staticGetHandler).Methods("GET", "HEAD")
@@ -118,8 +123,13 @@ func StartMainServer(addr string, db *db.Database, fs *db.FileStore, rawRootURL
 		rootURL: rootURL,
 	}
 
+	router := mux.NewRouter()
+	router.Use(rl.metricsMiddleware)
+	router.Use(rl.recoveryMiddleware)
+	router.Handle("/", CreateMainRouter(&rl))
+
 	srv := &http.Server{
-		Handler:      CreateMainRouter(&rl),
+		Handler:      router,
 		Addr:         addr,
 		WriteTimeout: 15 * time.Second,
 		ReadTimeout:  15 * time.Second,
diff --git a/views.go b/views.go
index ba82c98..7b4476f 100644
--- a/views.go
+++ b/views.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func mapExtend(m map[string]interface{}, key string, value interface{}) {
 
 func (rl *rushlink) renderStatic(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, path string) {
 	var modTime time.Time
-	if info, err := AssetInfo(path); err != nil {
+	if info, err := AssetInfo(path); err == nil {
 		modTime = info.ModTime()
 	}
 	contents, err := Asset(path)
@@ -118,7 +118,12 @@ func (rl *rushlink) render(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, status int, t
 			err = fmt.Errorf("'%v' not in textTemplates", tmplName)
 			break
 		}
-		err = tmpl.Execute(w, data)
+		if status != 0 {
+			w.WriteHeader(status)
+		}
+		if r.Method != "HEAD" {
+			err = tmpl.Execute(w, data)
+		}
 	case "text/html":
 		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/html")
 		tmpl := htmlTemplates[tmplName]
@@ -142,7 +147,6 @@ func (rl *rushlink) render(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, status int, t
 		if status != 0 {
 			w.WriteHeader(status)
 		}
-
 		if r.Method != "HEAD" {
 			err = tmpl.Execute(w, data)
 		}