diff --git a/lib/wsapi/cert_key.js b/lib/wsapi/cert_key.js
index a6787272ab007369cceb6f8b109b4dc9a64bc85b..9b642eb341646f360b8e4288dd166ed15b6d6713 100644
--- a/lib/wsapi/cert_key.js
+++ b/lib/wsapi/cert_key.js
@@ -29,9 +29,8 @@ exports.process = function(req, res) {
     keysigner.path = '/wsapi/cert_key';
     forward(keysigner, req, res, function(err) {
       if (err) {
-        logger.error("error forwarding request: " + err);
-        res.sendHeader(500);
-        res.json({ "error": "can't contact keysigner" });
+        logger.error("error forwarding request to keysigner: " + err);
+        httputils.serverError(res, "can't contact keysigner");
         return;
       }
     });