diff --git a/lib/connectors/kv-memory.js b/lib/connectors/kv-memory.js
index 5ec97262..8cd92a46 100644
--- a/lib/connectors/kv-memory.js
+++ b/lib/connectors/kv-memory.js
@@ -109,7 +109,9 @@ function(modelName, key, ttl, options, callback) {
 
   if (!(key in store)) {
     return process.nextTick(function() {
-      callback(new Error('Cannot expire unknown key ' + key));
+      var err = new Error('Cannot expire unknown key ' + key);
+      err.statusCode = 404;
+      callback(err);
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/test/kvao/expire.suite.js b/test/kvao/expire.suite.js
index b7abb29a..72549d2c 100644
--- a/test/kvao/expire.suite.js
+++ b/test/kvao/expire.suite.js
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ module.exports = function(dataSourceFactory, connectorCapabilities) {
     it('returns error when key does not exist', function() {
       return CacheItem.expire('key-does-not-exist', 1).then(
         function() { throw new Error('expire() should have failed'); },
-        function(err) { err.message.should.match(/key-does-not-exist/); });
+        function(err) {
+          err.message.should.match(/key-does-not-exist/);
+          err.should.have.property('statusCode', 404);
+        });
     });
   });
 };