diff --git a/lib/http.js b/lib/http.js
index 59f8112fe5..2012edbdec 100644
--- a/lib/http.js
+++ b/lib/http.js
@@ -552,22 +552,40 @@ process.http.Client.prototype.request = function (method, url, headers) {
 };
 
 
-exports.cat = function (url, encoding, headers) {
-  var promise = new events.Promise();
-
-  encoding = encoding || "utf8";
+exports.cat = function (url, encoding_, headers_) {
+  var encoding = 'utf8', 
+      headers = {},
+      callback = null;
+
+  // parse the arguments for the various options... very ugly
+  if (typeof(arguments[1]) == 'string') {
+    encoding = arguments[1];
+    if (typeof(arguments[2]) == 'object') {
+      headers = arguments[2];
+      if (typeof(arguments[3]) == 'function') callback = arguments[3];
+    } else {
+      if (typeof(arguments[2]) == 'function') callback = arguments[2];
+    }
+  } else {
+    // didn't specify encoding
+    if (typeof(arguments[1]) == 'object') {
+      headers = arguments[1];
+      callback = arguments[2];
+    } else {
+      callback = arguments[1];
+    }
+  }
 
   var url = require("url").parse(url);
-  headers = headers || {};
   
   var hasHost = false;
-  for (var i in headers) if (i.toLowerCase() === "host") {
-    hasHost = true;
-    break;
-  }
-  if (!hasHost) {
-    headers["Host"] = url.hostname;
+  for (var i in headers) {
+    if (i.toLowerCase() === "host") {
+      hasHost = true;
+      break;
+    }
   }
+  if (!hasHost) headers["Host"] = url.hostname;
 
   var content = "";
   
@@ -576,21 +594,21 @@ exports.cat = function (url, encoding, headers) {
 
   req.addListener('response', function (res) {
     if (res.statusCode < 200 || res.statusCode >= 300) {
-      promise.emitError(res.statusCode);
+      if (callback) callback(res.statusCode);
+      client.close();
       return;
     }
     res.setBodyEncoding(encoding);
     res.addListener('data', function (chunk) { content += chunk; });
     res.addListener('end', function () {
-      promise.emitSuccess(content);
+      if (callback) callback(null, content);
     });
   });
 
-  client.addListener("error", function () {
-    promise.emitError();
+  client.addListener("error", function (err) {
+    // todo an error should actually be passed here...
+    if (callback) callback(new Error('Connection error'));
   });
 
   req.close();
-
-  return promise;
 };
diff --git a/src/node.js b/src/node.js
index 4f07c7dc66..0615a82cbb 100644
--- a/src/node.js
+++ b/src/node.js
@@ -976,13 +976,7 @@ function cat (id, callback) {
       if (err) {
         if (callback) callback(err);
       } else {
-        http.cat(id)
-          .addCallback(function(content) {
-            if (callback) callback(null, content);
-          })
-          .addErrback(function(err) {
-            if (callback) callback(err);
-          });
+        http.cat(id, callback);
       }
     });
   } else {
diff --git a/test/mjsunit/test-http-cat.js b/test/mjsunit/test-http-cat.js
index f38bd7dd6d..eb7cd9e403 100644
--- a/test/mjsunit/test-http-cat.js
+++ b/test/mjsunit/test-http-cat.js
@@ -17,16 +17,22 @@ server.listen(PORT);
 var got_good_server_content = false;
 var bad_server_got_error = false;
 
-http.cat("http://localhost:"+PORT+"/", "utf8").addCallback(function (content) {
-  puts("got response");
-  got_good_server_content = true;
-  assert.equal(body, content);
-  server.close();
+http.cat("http://localhost:"+PORT+"/", "utf8", function (err, content) {
+  if (err) {
+    throw err;
+  } else {
+    puts("got response");
+    got_good_server_content = true;
+    assert.equal(body, content);
+    server.close();
+  }
 });
 
-http.cat("http://localhost:12312/", "utf8").addErrback(function () {
-  puts("got error (this should happen)");
-  bad_server_got_error = true;
+http.cat("http://localhost:12312/", "utf8", function (err, content) {
+  if (err) { 
+    puts("got error (this should happen)");
+    bad_server_got_error = true;
+  } 
 });
 
 process.addListener("exit", function () {
diff --git a/test/mjsunit/test-http-chunked.js b/test/mjsunit/test-http-chunked.js
index c15bd132d8..4a2dac37d3 100644
--- a/test/mjsunit/test-http-chunked.js
+++ b/test/mjsunit/test-http-chunked.js
@@ -11,12 +11,8 @@ var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
 });
 server.listen(PORT);
 
-http.cat("http://localhost:"+PORT+"/", "utf8")
-  .addCallback(function (data) {
-    assert.equal(UTF8_STRING, data);
-    server.close();
-  })
-  .addErrback(function() {
-    assert.ok(false, 'http.cat should succeed in < 1000ms');
-  })
-  .timeout(1000);
+http.cat("http://localhost:"+PORT+"/", "utf8", function (err, data) {
+  if (err) throw err;
+  assert.equal(UTF8_STRING, data);
+  server.close();
+})