diff --git a/mywebdav/main.py b/mywebdav/main.py
index 9f3b211..c2648fc 100644
--- a/mywebdav/main.py
+++ b/mywebdav/main.py
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ import argparse
 import uvicorn
 import logging
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
-from fastapi import FastAPI, Request, HTTPException
+from fastapi import FastAPI, Request, HTTPException, status
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
-from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse, JSONResponse
+from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse, JSONResponse, Response
 from tortoise.contrib.fastapi import register_tortoise
 from .settings import settings
 from .routers import (
@@ -131,9 +131,22 @@ async def http_exception_handler(request: Request, exc: HTTPException):
     logger.error(
         f"HTTPException: {exc.status_code} - {exc.detail} for URL: {request.url}"
     )
+
+    headers = exc.headers
+
+    # For WebDAV authentication challenges, we must return the headers
+    # from the exception and an empty body. A JSON body will confuse WebDAV clients.
+    if request.url.path.startswith("/webdav") and exc.status_code == status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED:
+        return Response(status_code=exc.status_code, headers=headers)
+
+    # For other WebDAV errors, it's better to return a text body than JSON
+    if request.url.path.startswith("/webdav"):
+        return Response(content=exc.detail, status_code=exc.status_code, headers=headers)
+
     return JSONResponse(
         status_code=exc.status_code,
         content=ErrorResponse(code=exc.status_code, message=exc.detail).model_dump(),
+        headers=headers,
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_webdav.py b/tests/test_webdav.py
index 2e0fab1..1260b86 100644
--- a/tests/test_webdav.py
+++ b/tests/test_webdav.py
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ async def test_webdav_propfind_root_unauthorized():
         )
 
     assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED
+    assert "WWW-Authenticate" in response.headers
+    assert 'Basic realm="MyWebdav WebDAV"' in response.headers["WWW-Authenticate"]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio