diff --git a/src/connection.c b/src/connection.c
index 7c5002c..930d3ec 100644
--- a/src/connection.c
+++ b/src/connection.c
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ void internal_error(connection *con) {
 		CON_ERROR(con, "%s", "Couldn't send '500 Internal Error': headers already sent");
 		connection_set_state(con, CON_STATE_ERROR);
 	} else {
-		con->response.headers = http_headers_try_reset(con->response.headers);
+		http_headers_reset(con->response.headers);
 		con->response.http_status = 500;
 		con->content_handler = NULL;
 		connection_set_state(con, CON_STATE_WRITE_RESPONSE);
diff --git a/src/http_headers.c b/src/http_headers.c
index 53ed9ae..d24f3ba 100644
--- a/src/http_headers.c
+++ b/src/http_headers.c
@@ -25,47 +25,22 @@ static void _header_queue_free(gpointer data, gpointer userdata) {
 
 http_headers* http_headers_new() {
 	http_headers* headers = g_slice_new0(http_headers);
-	headers->refcount = 1;
 	g_queue_init(&headers->entries);
 	return headers;
 }
 
-static void http_headers_reset(http_headers* headers) {
+void http_headers_reset(http_headers* headers) {
 	g_queue_foreach(&headers->entries, _header_queue_free, NULL);
 	g_queue_clear(&headers->entries);
 }
 
-static void http_headers_free(http_headers* headers) {
+void http_headers_free(http_headers* headers) {
 	if (!headers) return;
 	g_queue_foreach(&headers->entries, _header_queue_free, NULL);
 	g_queue_clear(&headers->entries);
 	g_slice_free(http_headers, headers);
 }
 
-void http_headers_acquire(http_headers* headers) {
-	assert(g_atomic_int_get(&headers->refcount) > 0);
-	g_atomic_int_inc(&headers->refcount);
-}
-
-void http_headers_release(http_headers* headers) {
-	if (!headers) return;
-	assert(g_atomic_int_get(&headers->refcount) > 0);
-	if (g_atomic_int_dec_and_test(&headers->refcount)) {
-		http_headers_free(headers);
-	}
-}
-
-http_headers* http_headers_try_reset(http_headers* headers) {
-	assert(g_atomic_int_get(&headers->refcount) > 0);
-	if (g_atomic_int_dec_and_test(&headers->refcount)) {
-		http_headers_reset(headers);
-		headers->refcount = 1;
-		return headers;
-	} else {
-		return http_headers_new();
-	}
-}
-
 /** just insert normal header, allow duplicates */
 void http_header_insert(http_headers *headers, const gchar *key, size_t keylen, const gchar *val, size_t valuelen) {
 	http_header *h = _http_header_new(key, keylen, val, valuelen);
diff --git a/src/http_headers.h b/src/http_headers.h
index 6c90212..be5a8d8 100644
--- a/src/http_headers.h
+++ b/src/http_headers.h
@@ -21,18 +21,14 @@ struct http_header {
 };
 
 struct http_headers {
-	gint refcount;
 	GQueue entries;
 };
 
 /* strings alweays get copied, so you should free key and value yourself */
 
 LI_API http_headers* http_headers_new();
-LI_API void http_headers_acquire(http_headers* headers);
-LI_API void http_headers_release(http_headers* headers);
-
-/* releases the old one; if the refcount drops to zero, reuse the memory; otherwise alloc a new one */
-LI_API http_headers* http_headers_try_reset(http_headers* headers);
+LI_API void http_headers_reset(http_headers* headers);
+LI_API void http_headers_free(http_headers* headers);
 
 /** If header does not exist, just insert normal header. If it exists, append (", %s", value) */
 LI_API void http_header_append(http_headers *headers, const gchar *key, size_t keylen, const gchar *value, size_t valuelen);
diff --git a/src/request.c b/src/request.c
index 03f85be..94f5d25 100644
--- a/src/request.c
+++ b/src/request.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ void request_reset(request *req) {
 	g_string_truncate(req->uri.query, 0);
 	g_string_truncate(req->uri.host, 0);
 
-	req->headers = http_headers_try_reset(req->headers);
+	http_headers_reset(req->headers);
 
 	req->content_length = -1;
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ void request_clear(request *req) {
 	g_string_free(req->uri.query, TRUE);
 	g_string_free(req->uri.host, TRUE);
 
-	http_headers_release(req->headers);
+	http_headers_free(req->headers);
 
 	req->content_length = -1;
 
diff --git a/src/response.c b/src/response.c
index 736f2d4..179102d 100644
--- a/src/response.c
+++ b/src/response.c
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ void response_init(response *resp) {
 }
 
 void response_reset(response *resp) {
-	resp->headers = http_headers_try_reset(resp->headers);
+	http_headers_reset(resp->headers);
 	resp->http_status = 0;
 	resp->transfer_encoding = HTTP_TRANSFER_ENCODING_IDENTITY;
 }
 
 void response_clear(response *resp) {
-	http_headers_release(resp->headers);
+	http_headers_free(resp->headers);
 	resp->http_status = 0;
 	resp->transfer_encoding = HTTP_TRANSFER_ENCODING_IDENTITY;
 }