diff --git a/src/node_http.cc b/src/node_http.cc
index 5ccc53bcbb..230b27200c 100644
--- a/src/node_http.cc
+++ b/src/node_http.cc
@@ -29,6 +29,23 @@ static Persistent<String> header_complete_symbol;
 static Persistent<String> body_symbol;
 static Persistent<String> eof_symbol;
 
+static Persistent<String> delete_sym;
+static Persistent<String> get_sym;
+static Persistent<String> head_sym;
+static Persistent<String> post_sym;
+static Persistent<String> put_sym;
+static Persistent<String> connect_sym;
+static Persistent<String> options_sym;
+static Persistent<String> trace_sym;
+static Persistent<String> copy_sym;
+static Persistent<String> lock_sym;
+static Persistent<String> mkcol_sym;
+static Persistent<String> move_sym;
+static Persistent<String> propfind_sym;
+static Persistent<String> proppatch_sym;
+static Persistent<String> unlock_sym;
+static Persistent<String> unknown_method_sym;
+
 void
 HTTPConnection::Initialize (Handle<Object> target)
 {
@@ -53,6 +70,24 @@ HTTPConnection::Initialize (Handle<Object> target)
   status_code_symbol = NODE_PSYMBOL("statusCode");
   http_version_symbol = NODE_PSYMBOL("httpVersion");
   should_keep_alive_symbol = NODE_PSYMBOL("should_keep_alive");
+
+
+  delete_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("DELETE");
+  get_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("GET");
+  head_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("HEAD");
+  post_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("POST");
+  put_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("PUT");
+  connect_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("CONNECT");
+  options_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("OPTIONS");
+  trace_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("TRACE");
+  copy_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("COPY");
+  lock_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("LOCK");
+  mkcol_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("MKCOL");
+  move_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("MOVE");
+  propfind_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("PROPFIND");
+  proppatch_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("PROPPATCH");
+  unlock_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("UNLOCK");
+  unknown_method_sym = NODE_PSYMBOL("UNKNOWN_METHOD");
 }
 
 Handle<Value>
@@ -242,6 +277,28 @@ HTTPConnection::on_header_value (http_parser *parser, const char *buf, size_t le
   return 0;
 }
 
+static inline Persistent<String>
+method_to_str(enum http_method m) {
+  switch (m) {
+    case HTTP_DELETE:     return delete_sym;
+    case HTTP_GET:        return get_sym;
+    case HTTP_HEAD:       return head_sym;
+    case HTTP_POST:       return post_sym;
+    case HTTP_PUT:        return put_sym;
+    case HTTP_CONNECT:    return connect_sym;
+    case HTTP_OPTIONS:    return options_sym;
+    case HTTP_TRACE:      return trace_sym;
+    case HTTP_COPY:       return copy_sym;
+    case HTTP_LOCK:       return lock_sym;
+    case HTTP_MKCOL:      return mkcol_sym;
+    case HTTP_MOVE:       return move_sym;
+    case HTTP_PROPFIND:   return propfind_sym;
+    case HTTP_PROPPATCH:  return proppatch_sym;
+    case HTTP_UNLOCK:     return unlock_sym;
+    default:              return unknown_method_sym;
+  }
+}
+
 int
 HTTPConnection::on_headers_complete (http_parser *parser)
 {
@@ -253,8 +310,7 @@ HTTPConnection::on_headers_complete (http_parser *parser)
 
   // METHOD
   if (connection->type_ == HTTP_REQUEST) {
-    message_info->Set(method_symbol, String::NewSymbol(
-          http_method_str(connection->parser_.method)));
+    message_info->Set(method_symbol, method_to_str(connection->parser_.method));
   }
 
   // STATUS