diff --git a/lib/items_api/router.ex b/lib/items_api/router.ex
index de8c571..b6cfd91 100644
--- a/lib/items_api/router.ex
+++ b/lib/items_api/router.ex
@@ -76,10 +76,7 @@ defmodule ItemsApi.Router do
 
           item ->
             {:ok, _} = ItemsApi.Repo.delete(item)
-
-            conn
-            |> Plug.Conn.put_resp_header("content-type", "application/json")
-            |> Plug.Conn.send_resp(204, "")
+            send_response(conn, 204, "")
         end
 
       _ ->
@@ -98,4 +95,10 @@ defmodule ItemsApi.Router do
     |> Plug.Conn.put_resp_header("content-type", "application/json")
     |> Plug.Conn.send_resp(status, json)
   end
+
+  defp send_response(conn, status, body) do
+    conn
+    |> Plug.Conn.put_resp_header("content-type", "application/json")
+    |> Plug.Conn.send_resp(status, body)
+  end
 end
diff --git a/test/items_api_test.exs b/test/items_api_test.exs
index ca5f8b5..264e692 100644
--- a/test/items_api_test.exs
+++ b/test/items_api_test.exs
@@ -169,6 +169,23 @@ defmodule ItemsApi.RouterTest do
       not_found = json_conn(:get, "/items/99999") |> call()
       assert Plug.Conn.get_resp_header(not_found, "content-type") == ["application/json"]
     end
+
+    test "DELETE responses include content-type header" do
+      {:ok, item} =
+        ItemsApi.Repo.insert(
+          ItemsApi.Item.changeset(%ItemsApi.Item{}, %{"name" => "Test Delete"})
+        )
+
+      # Successful delete (204) has content-type
+      conn = json_conn(:delete, "/items/#{item.id}") |> call()
+      assert conn.status == 204
+      assert Plug.Conn.get_resp_header(conn, "content-type") == ["application/json"]
+
+      # Not found (404) has content-type
+      conn = json_conn(:delete, "/items/99999") |> call()
+      assert conn.status == 404
+      assert Plug.Conn.get_resp_header(conn, "content-type") == ["application/json"]
+    end
   end
 
   describe "unknown routes" do