diff --git a/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php b/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php
index cd9e893bd..4ea520280 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Network/CakeRequest.php
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ class CakeRequest implements ArrayAccess {
 		if ($_POST) {
 			$this->data = $_POST;
 		} elseif (($this->is('put') || $this->is('delete')) &&
-			strpos(env('CONTENT_TYPE'), 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded') === 0
+			strpos($this->contentType(), 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded') === 0
 		) {
 				$data = $this->_readInput();
 				parse_str($data, $this->data);
@@ -394,6 +394,19 @@ class CakeRequest implements ArrayAccess {
 		}
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Get the content type used in this request.
+ * 
+ * @return string
+ */
+	public function contentType() {
+		$type = env('CONTENT_TYPE');
+		if ($type) {
+			return $type;
+		}
+		return env('HTTP_CONTENT_TYPE');
+	}
+
 /**
  * Get the IP the client is using, or says they are using.
  *
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeRequestTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeRequestTest.php
index 684f4286b..e1c1d3598 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeRequestTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeRequestTest.php
@@ -146,6 +146,21 @@ class CakeRequestTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertFalse(isset($request->query['one']));
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Test the content type method.
+ * 
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testContentType() {
+		$_SERVER['HTTP_CONTENT_TYPE'] = 'application/json';
+		$request = new CakeRequest('/', false);
+		$this->assertEquals('application/json', $request->contentType());
+
+		$_SERVER['CONTENT_TYPE'] = 'application/xml';
+		$request = new CakeRequest('/', false);
+		$this->assertEquals('application/xml', $request->contentType(), 'prefer non http header.');
+	}
+
 /**
  * Test construction
  *