diff --git a/lib/remote_storage/riak.rb b/lib/remote_storage/riak.rb
index 19c2035..27ff1a3 100644
--- a/lib/remote_storage/riak.rb
+++ b/lib/remote_storage/riak.rb
@@ -124,8 +124,8 @@ module RemoteStorage
       existing_object_size = object_size(object)
       etag = object.etag
 
-      if match_requirement = server.env["HTTP_IF_MATCH"]
-        server.halt 412 unless match_requirement == etag
+      if required_match = server.env["HTTP_IF_MATCH"]
+        server.halt 412 unless required_match == etag
       end
 
       if binary_key = object.meta["binary_key"]
diff --git a/spec/directories_spec.rb b/spec/directories_spec.rb
index 4e290c0..56763be 100644
--- a/spec/directories_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/directories_spec.rb
@@ -44,6 +44,18 @@ describe "Directories" do
       last_modified.day.must_equal now.day
     end
 
+    it "has an ETag header set" do
+      get "/jimmy/tasks/"
+
+      last_response.status.must_equal 200
+      last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+
+      # check that ETag stays the same
+      etag = last_response.headers["ETag"]
+      get "/jimmy/tasks/"
+      last_response.headers["ETag"].must_equal etag
+    end
+
     it "has CORS headers set" do
       get "/jimmy/tasks/"
 
@@ -55,6 +67,9 @@ describe "Directories" do
 
     context "with sub-directories" do
       before do
+        get "/jimmy/tasks/"
+        @old_etag = last_response.headers["ETag"]
+
         put "/jimmy/tasks/home/laundry", "do the laundry"
       end
 
@@ -71,6 +86,13 @@ describe "Directories" do
         content["home/"].to_s.length.must_equal 13
       end
 
+      it "updates the ETag of the parent directory" do
+        get "/jimmy/tasks/"
+
+        last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+        last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_equal @old_etag
+      end
+
       context "for a different user" do
         before do
           auth = auth_bucket.new("alice:321")
@@ -260,6 +282,13 @@ describe "Directories" do
         content["tasks/"].must_be_kind_of Integer
         content["tasks/"].to_s.length.must_equal 13
       end
+
+      it "has an ETag header set" do
+        get "/jimmy/"
+
+        last_response.status.must_equal 200
+        last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+      end
     end
 
     context "for the public directory" do
@@ -280,6 +309,13 @@ describe "Directories" do
           content = JSON.parse(last_response.body)
           content.must_include "5apps"
         end
+
+        it "has an ETag header set" do
+          get "/jimmy/public/bookmarks/"
+
+          last_response.status.must_equal 200
+          last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+        end
       end
 
       context "when directly authorized for the public directory" do
@@ -449,6 +485,17 @@ describe "Directories" do
         directory_bucket.get("jimmy:").wont_be_nil
       end
 
+      it "updates the ETag header of the parent directory" do
+        get "/jimmy/tasks/"
+        @old_etag = last_response.headers["ETag"]
+
+        delete "/jimmy/tasks/home/trash"
+
+        get "/jimmy/tasks/"
+        last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+        last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_equal @old_etag
+      end
+
       describe "timestamps" do
         before do
           @old_timestamp = (2.seconds.ago.to_f * 1000).to_i
diff --git a/spec/riak_spec.rb b/spec/riak_spec.rb
index c34a601..d913064 100644
--- a/spec/riak_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/riak_spec.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ describe "App with Riak backend" do
       last_modified.year.must_equal now.year
       last_modified.day.must_equal now.day
     end
+
+    it "has an ETag header set" do
+      last_response.status.must_equal 200
+      last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+    end
   end
 
   describe "GET data with custom content type" do
@@ -102,6 +107,10 @@ describe "App with Riak backend" do
           data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents:bar").content_type.must_equal "text/plain; charset=utf-8"
         end
 
+        it "sets the ETag header" do
+          last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+        end
+
         it "indexes the data set" do
           indexes = data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents:bar").indexes
           indexes["user_id_bin"].must_be_kind_of Set
@@ -197,15 +206,18 @@ describe "App with Riak backend" do
       describe "with existing content" do
         before do
           put "/jimmy/documents/archive/foo", "lorem ipsum"
-          put "/jimmy/documents/archive/foo", "some awesome content"
         end
 
         it "saves the value" do
+          put "/jimmy/documents/archive/foo", "some awesome content"
+
           last_response.status.must_equal 200
           data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents/archive:foo").data.must_equal "some awesome content"
         end
 
         it "logs the operations" do
+          put "/jimmy/documents/archive/foo", "some awesome content"
+
           objects = []
           opslog_bucket.keys.each { |k| objects << opslog_bucket.get(k) rescue nil }
 
@@ -220,21 +232,29 @@ describe "App with Riak backend" do
           update_entry.indexes["user_id_bin"].must_include "jimmy"
         end
 
-        describe "when no serializer is registered for the given content-type" do
-          before do
-            header "Content-Type", "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
-            put "/jimmy/documents/html", '<html></html>'
-            put "/jimmy/documents/html", '<html><body></body></html>'
-          end
+        it "changes the ETag header" do
+          old_etag = last_response.headers["ETag"]
+          put "/jimmy/documents/archive/foo", "some awesome content"
 
-          it "saves the value" do
-            last_response.status.must_equal 200
-            data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents:html").raw_data.must_equal "<html><body></body></html>"
-          end
+          last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+          last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_equal old_etag
+        end
+      end
 
-          it "uses the requested content type" do
-            data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents:html").content_type.must_equal "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
-          end
+      describe "exsting content without serializer registered for the given content-type" do
+        before do
+          header "Content-Type", "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
+          put "/jimmy/documents/html", '<html></html>'
+          put "/jimmy/documents/html", '<html><body></body></html>'
+        end
+
+        it "saves the value" do
+          last_response.status.must_equal 200
+          data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents:html").raw_data.must_equal "<html><body></body></html>"
+        end
+
+        it "uses the requested content type" do
+          data_bucket.get("jimmy:documents:html").content_type.must_equal "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
         end
       end
 
@@ -396,6 +416,10 @@ describe "App with Riak backend" do
         log_entry.indexes["user_id_bin"].must_include "jimmy"
       end
 
+      it "sets the ETag header" do
+        last_response.headers["ETag"].wont_be_nil
+      end
+
       context "non-existing object" do
         before do
           delete "/jimmy/documents/foozius"