diff --git a/src/clj_webtoolbox/response.clj b/src/clj_webtoolbox/response.clj
index 883e403..c800874 100644
--- a/src/clj_webtoolbox/response.clj
+++ b/src/clj_webtoolbox/response.clj
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 (def ^:private base-response
   {:status  200
    :headers {}
-   :body    nil})
+   :body    ""})
 
 (defn content
   "Returns a Ring response where the body is set to the value given."
diff --git a/src/clj_webtoolbox/response_helpers.clj b/src/clj_webtoolbox/response_helpers.clj
index e2eba05..a55364a 100644
--- a/src/clj_webtoolbox/response_helpers.clj
+++ b/src/clj_webtoolbox/response_helpers.clj
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     [clj-webtoolbox.response :as response]))
 
 (defn- ->response [body status]
-  (-> (response/content body)
+  (-> (response/content (if (nil? body) "" body))
       (response/status status)))
 
 (defn ok [& [body]] (->response body 200))