diff --git a/lib/app.js b/lib/app.js
index 032758d..d70850f 100644
--- a/lib/app.js
+++ b/lib/app.js
@@ -154,13 +154,13 @@ module.exports = function(tilelive, options) {
 
         if (ext !== format) {
           debug("Invalid format '%s', expected '%s'", format, ext);
-          return callback(null, null, populateHeaders({}, params, { 404: true, invalidFormat: true }));
+          return callback(null, null, populateHeaders({}, params, { 404: true, invalidFormat: true }), 404);
         }
 
         // validate zoom
         if (z < info.minzoom || z > info.maxzoom) {
           debug("Invalid zoom:", z);
-          return callback(null, null, populateHeaders({}, params, { 404: true, invalidZoom: true }));
+          return callback(null, null, populateHeaders({}, params, { 404: true, invalidZoom: true }), 404);
         }
 
         // validate coords against bounds
@@ -171,22 +171,24 @@ module.exports = function(tilelive, options) {
             y < xyz.minY ||
             y > xyz.maxY) {
           debug("Invalid coordinates: %d,%d relative to bounds:", x, y, xyz);
-          return callback(null, null, populateHeaders({}, params, { 404: true, invalidCoordinates: true }));
+          return callback(null, null, populateHeaders({}, params, { 404: true, invalidCoordinates: true }), 404);
         }
 
         return source.getTile(z, x, y, function(err, data, headers) {
           headers = normalizeHeaders(headers || {});
 
           if (err) {
-            if (err.message.match(/(Tile|Grid) does not exist/)) {
-              return callback(null, null, populateHeaders(headers, params, { 404: true }));
+            if (!err.message.match(/(Tile|Grid) does not exist/)) {
+              return callback(err);
             }
-
-            return callback(err);
           }
 
           if (data === null || data === undefined) {
-            return callback(null, null, populateHeaders(headers, params, { 404: true }));
+            if (ext != "pbf") { // return 404 error for missing rasters
+              return callback(null, null, populateHeaders(headers, params, {404: true}), 404);
+            } else {
+              data = "";
+            }
           }
 
           if (!headers["content-md5"]) {
@@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ module.exports = function(tilelive, options) {
             headers["content-encoding"] = headers["content-encoding"] || "gzip";
           }
 
-          return callback(null, data, populateHeaders(headers, params, { 200: true }));
+          return callback(null, data, populateHeaders(headers, params, { 200: true }), 200);
         });
       });
     });
@@ -211,16 +213,20 @@ module.exports = function(tilelive, options) {
         y = req.params.y | 0,
         scale = getScale(req.params.scale),
         format = req.params.format;
-    return getTile(z, x, y, scale, format, function(err, data, headers) {
+    return getTile(z, x, y, scale, format, function(err, data, headers, status) {
         if (err) {
           return next(err);
         }
-        if (data == null && format !== "pbf") {
-          return res.status(404).send("Not found");
-        } else {
-          res.set(headers);
-          return res.status(200).send(data);
+
+        status = status || 200;
+        if (status != 200) {
+          return res.sendStatus(status);
         }
+
+        return res
+          .status(200)
+          .set(headers)
+          .send(data);
     }, res, next);
   });
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index cbde107..02744ac 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/mojodna/tessera.git"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "prepublish": "npm install bower && bower install"
+    "prepublish": "npm install bower && bower install",
+    "test": "mocha"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "abaculus": "^1.2.1",
@@ -28,5 +29,10 @@
     "tilelive": "^5.3.3",
     "tilelive-cache": "^0.6.1",
     "tilelive-modules": "^0.2.0"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "mocha": "^1.18.0",
+    "supertest": "^0.3",
+    "mbtiles": "^0.2.9"
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/fixtures/empty.mbtiles b/test/fixtures/empty.mbtiles
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4370b1b
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/fixtures/empty.mbtiles differ
diff --git a/test/mbtiles.js b/test/mbtiles.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fa72c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mbtiles.js
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+"use strict";
+
+var assert = require("assert"),
+  express = require("express"),
+  request = require("supertest"),
+  tilelive = require("tilelive-cache")(require("tilelive"), {}),
+  serve = require("../lib/app"),
+  tessera = require("../lib/index");
+
+// load and register tilelive modules
+require("tilelive-modules/loader")(tilelive, {});
+
+describe("MBTiles", function () {
+  var app;
+  before(function (done) {
+    var uri = "mbtiles://./test/fixtures/empty.mbtiles";
+    app = express();
+    app.use(serve(tilelive, uri));
+
+    return done();
+  });
+
+  it("should return TileJSON", function (done) {
+    request(app)
+      .get("/index.json")
+      .expect(200)
+      .end(function (err, res) {
+        assert.equal(err, null);
+        assert(typeof res.body == "object");
+
+        assert.equal(res.body.format, "pbf");
+        assert.equal(res.body.minzoom, 0);
+        assert.equal(res.body.maxzoom, 14);
+
+        done();
+      });
+  });
+
+  it("should return empty vector tile on valid request", function (done) {
+    request(app)
+      .get("/5/1/1.pbf")
+      .expect(200)
+      .end(function (err, res) {
+        console.error(err);
+        assert.equal(err, null);
+        assert.equal(typeof res.text, "undefined");
+        assert.deepEqual(res.body, {});
+
+        done();
+      });
+  });
+
+  it("should return 404 on overzoom request", function (done) {
+    request(app)
+      .get("/15/1/1.pbf")
+      .expect(404)
+      .end(function (err, res) {
+        assert.equal(err, null);
+        assert.equal(res.text, "Not Found");
+
+        done();
+      });
+  });
+});