diff --git a/registry.go b/registry.go
index 359c80acb..c12a6ad6c 100644
--- a/registry.go
+++ b/registry.go
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ type Layer interface {
 	// CreatedAt returns the time this layer was created.
 	CreatedAt() time.Time
 
-	// ServeHTTP allows a layer to serve itself, whether by providing
-	// a redirect directly to the content, or by serving the content
-	// itself
-	ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
+	// Handler returns an HTTP handler which serves the layer content, whether
+	// by providing a redirect directly to the content, or by serving the
+	// content itself.
+	Handler(r *http.Request) (http.Handler, error)
 }
 
 // LayerUpload provides a handle for working with in-progress uploads.
diff --git a/registry/handlers/layer.go b/registry/handlers/layer.go
index ae73aee08..b8230135a 100644
--- a/registry/handlers/layer.go
+++ b/registry/handlers/layer.go
@@ -63,5 +63,12 @@ func (lh *layerHandler) GetLayer(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	layer.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	handler, err := layer.Handler(r)
+	if err != nil {
+		ctxu.GetLogger(lh).Debugf("unexpected error getting layer HTTP handler: %s", err)
+		lh.Errors.Push(v2.ErrorCodeUnknown, err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	handler.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 }
diff --git a/registry/storage/driver/storagedriver.go b/registry/storage/driver/storagedriver.go
index dd8fb4a06..f0fe7feff 100644
--- a/registry/storage/driver/storagedriver.go
+++ b/registry/storage/driver/storagedriver.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ type StorageDriver interface {
 
 	// URLFor returns a URL which may be used to retrieve the content stored at
 	// the given path, possibly using the given options.
-	// May return an UnsupportedMethodErr in certain StorageDriver
+	// May return an ErrUnsupportedMethod in certain StorageDriver
 	// implementations.
 	URLFor(path string, options map[string]interface{}) (string, error)
 }
@@ -85,8 +85,8 @@ type StorageDriver interface {
 // hyphen.
 var PathRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(/[a-z0-9._-]+)+$`)
 
-// UnsupportedMethodErr may be returned in the case where a StorageDriver implementation does not support an optional method.
-var ErrUnsupportedMethod = errors.New("Unsupported method")
+// ErrUnsupportedMethod may be returned in the case where a StorageDriver implementation does not support an optional method.
+var ErrUnsupportedMethod = errors.New("unsupported method")
 
 // PathNotFoundError is returned when operating on a nonexistent path.
 type PathNotFoundError struct {
diff --git a/registry/storage/layerreader.go b/registry/storage/layerreader.go
index 9d6d8c8a5..414951d9a 100644
--- a/registry/storage/layerreader.go
+++ b/registry/storage/layerreader.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/docker/distribution"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver"
 )
 
 // layerReader implements Layer and provides facilities for reading and
@@ -35,11 +36,29 @@ func (lr *layerReader) Close() error {
 	return lr.closeWithErr(distribution.ErrLayerClosed)
 }
 
-func (lr *layerReader) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	w.Header().Set("Docker-Content-Digest", lr.digest.String())
+func (lr *layerReader) Handler(r *http.Request) (h http.Handler, err error) {
+	var handlerFunc http.HandlerFunc
 
-	if url, err := lr.fileReader.driver.URLFor(lr.path, map[string]interface{}{"method": r.Method}); err == nil {
-		http.Redirect(w, r, url, http.StatusTemporaryRedirect)
+	redirectURL, err := lr.fileReader.driver.URLFor(lr.path, map[string]interface{}{"method": r.Method})
+
+	switch err {
+	case nil:
+		handlerFunc = func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			// Redirect to storage URL.
+			http.Redirect(w, r, redirectURL, http.StatusTemporaryRedirect)
+		}
+	case driver.ErrUnsupportedMethod:
+		handlerFunc = func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			// Fallback to serving the content directly.
+			http.ServeContent(w, r, lr.digest.String(), lr.CreatedAt(), lr)
+		}
+	default:
+		// Some unexpected error.
+		return nil, err
 	}
-	http.ServeContent(w, r, lr.digest.String(), lr.CreatedAt(), lr)
+
+	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Docker-Content-Digest", lr.digest.String())
+		handlerFunc.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	}), nil
 }