diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/InternalMetadata.java b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/InternalMetadata.java
index 8a31874c58..4fb8a7f6ab 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/InternalMetadata.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/InternalMetadata.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package io.grpc;
 
+import io.grpc.Metadata.AsciiMarshaller;
 import io.grpc.Metadata.Key;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
@@ -44,7 +45,14 @@ public final class InternalMetadata {
 
   @Internal
   public static <T> Key<T> keyOf(String name, TrustedAsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
-    return Metadata.Key.of(name, marshaller);
+    boolean isPseudo = name != null && !name.isEmpty() && name.charAt(0) == ':';
+    return Metadata.Key.of(name, isPseudo, marshaller);
+  }
+
+  @Internal
+  public static <T> Key<T> keyOf(String name, AsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
+    boolean isPseudo = name != null && !name.isEmpty() && name.charAt(0) == ':';
+    return Metadata.Key.of(name, isPseudo, marshaller);
   }
 
   @Internal
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Metadata.java b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Metadata.java
index 23b2cb2981..710ddb43f5 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Metadata.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Metadata.java
@@ -599,11 +599,15 @@ public final class Metadata {
      *     <b>not</b> end with {@link #BINARY_HEADER_SUFFIX}
      */
     public static <T> Key<T> of(String name, AsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
-      return new AsciiKey<T>(name, marshaller);
+      return of(name, false, marshaller);
     }
 
-    static <T> Key<T> of(String name, TrustedAsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
-      return new TrustedAsciiKey<T>(name, marshaller);
+    static <T> Key<T> of(String name, boolean pseudo, AsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
+      return new AsciiKey<T>(name, pseudo, marshaller);
+    }
+
+    static <T> Key<T> of(String name, boolean pseudo, TrustedAsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
+      return new TrustedAsciiKey<T>(name, pseudo, marshaller);
     }
 
     private final String originalName;
@@ -626,13 +630,12 @@ public final class Metadata {
       return valid;
     }
 
-    private static String validateName(String n) {
+    private static String validateName(String n, boolean pseudo) {
       checkNotNull(n, "name");
-      checkArgument(n.length() != 0, "token must have at least 1 tchar");
+      checkArgument(!n.isEmpty(), "token must have at least 1 tchar");
       for (int i = 0; i < n.length(); i++) {
         char tChar = n.charAt(i);
-        // TODO(notcarl): remove this hack once pseudo headers are properly handled
-        if (tChar == ':' && i == 0) {
+        if (pseudo && tChar == ':' && i == 0) {
           continue;
         }
 
@@ -642,9 +645,9 @@ public final class Metadata {
       return n;
     }
 
-    private Key(String name) {
+    private Key(String name, boolean pseudo) {
       this.originalName = checkNotNull(name, "name");
-      this.name = validateName(this.originalName.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT));
+      this.name = validateName(this.originalName.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT), pseudo);
       this.nameBytes = this.name.getBytes(US_ASCII);
     }
 
@@ -722,7 +725,7 @@ public final class Metadata {
 
     /** Keys have a name and a binary marshaller used for serialization. */
     private BinaryKey(String name, BinaryMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
-      super(name);
+      super(name, false /* not pseudo */);
       checkArgument(
           name.endsWith(BINARY_HEADER_SUFFIX),
           "Binary header is named %s. It must end with %s",
@@ -747,8 +750,8 @@ public final class Metadata {
     private final AsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller;
 
     /** Keys have a name and an ASCII marshaller used for serialization. */
-    private AsciiKey(String name, AsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
-      super(name);
+    private AsciiKey(String name, boolean pseudo, AsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
+      super(name, pseudo);
       Preconditions.checkArgument(
           !name.endsWith(BINARY_HEADER_SUFFIX),
           "ASCII header is named %s.  Only binary headers may end with %s",
@@ -772,8 +775,8 @@ public final class Metadata {
     private final TrustedAsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller;
 
     /** Keys have a name and an ASCII marshaller used for serialization. */
-    private TrustedAsciiKey(String name, TrustedAsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
-      super(name);
+    private TrustedAsciiKey(String name, boolean pseudo, TrustedAsciiMarshaller<T> marshaller) {
+      super(name, pseudo);
       Preconditions.checkArgument(
           !name.endsWith(BINARY_HEADER_SUFFIX),
           "ASCII header is named %s.  Only binary headers may end with %s",
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Status.java b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Status.java
index dcbca2f45b..e76fc1d434 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Status.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/Status.java
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ public final class Status {
    * Key to bind status code to trailing metadata.
    */
   static final Metadata.Key<Status> CODE_KEY
-      = Metadata.Key.of("grpc-status", new StatusCodeMarshaller());
+      = Metadata.Key.of("grpc-status", false /* not pseudo */, new StatusCodeMarshaller());
 
   /**
    * Marshals status messages for ({@link #MESSAGE_KEY}.  gRPC does not use binary coding of
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ public final class Status {
    * Key to bind status message to trailing metadata.
    */
   static final Metadata.Key<String> MESSAGE_KEY =
-      Metadata.Key.of("grpc-message", STATUS_MESSAGE_MARSHALLER);
+      Metadata.Key.of("grpc-message", false /* not pseudo */, STATUS_MESSAGE_MARSHALLER);
 
   /**
    * Extract an error {@link Status} from the causal chain of a {@link Throwable}.
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/MetadataTest.java b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/MetadataTest.java
index 541836eb75..d5cbfc5cde 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/MetadataTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/MetadataTest.java
@@ -63,6 +63,14 @@ public class MetadataTest {
   private static final byte[] LANCE_BYTES = LANCE.getBytes(US_ASCII);
   private static final Metadata.Key<Fish> KEY = Metadata.Key.of("test-bin", FISH_MARSHALLER);
 
+  @Test
+  public void noPseudoHeaders() {
+    thrown.expect(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+    thrown.expectMessage("Invalid character");
+
+    Metadata.Key.of(":test-bin", FISH_MARSHALLER);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testMutations() {
     Fish lance = new Fish(LANCE);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest.java b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest.java
index 961a9ceafb..042785caf2 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import static org.mockito.Matchers.same;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 
+import io.grpc.InternalMetadata;
 import io.grpc.Metadata;
 import io.grpc.Status;
 import io.grpc.Status.Code;
@@ -40,6 +41,10 @@ import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
 /** Unit tests for {@link Http2ClientStreamTransportState}. */
 @RunWith(JUnit4.class)
 public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
+
+  private final Metadata.Key<String> testStatusMashaller =
+      InternalMetadata.keyOf(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER);
+
   @Mock private ClientStreamListener mockListener;
   @Captor private ArgumentCaptor<Status> statusCaptor;
 
@@ -53,7 +58,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
@@ -67,7 +72,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "500");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "500");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
@@ -96,7 +101,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "text/html");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
     state.transportDataReceived(ReadableBuffers.empty(), true);
@@ -112,7 +117,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "401");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "401");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "text/html");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
     state.transportDataReceived(ReadableBuffers.empty(), true);
@@ -130,14 +135,14 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     state.setListener(mockListener);
 
     Metadata infoHeaders = new Metadata();
-    infoHeaders.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "100");
+    infoHeaders.put(testStatusMashaller, "100");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(infoHeaders);
     Metadata infoHeaders2 = new Metadata();
-    infoHeaders2.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "101");
+    infoHeaders2.put(testStatusMashaller, "101");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(infoHeaders2);
 
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
@@ -151,7 +156,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
@@ -170,7 +175,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "text/html");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
     Metadata headersAgain = new Metadata();
@@ -201,7 +206,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "text/html");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
     String testString = "This is a test";
@@ -216,7 +221,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata trailers = new Metadata();
-    trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    trailers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of("grpc-status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "0");
@@ -231,7 +236,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
@@ -248,7 +253,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata trailers = new Metadata();
-    trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    trailers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of("grpc-status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "1");
@@ -263,7 +268,7 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata trailers = new Metadata();
-    trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "401");
+    trailers.put(testStatusMashaller, "401");
     trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportTrailersReceived(trailers);
@@ -308,12 +313,12 @@ public class Http2ClientStreamTransportStateTest {
     BaseTransportState state = new BaseTransportState();
     state.setListener(mockListener);
     Metadata headers = new Metadata();
-    headers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "200");
+    headers.put(testStatusMashaller, "200");
     headers.put(Metadata.Key.of("content-type", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER),
         "application/grpc");
     state.transportHeadersReceived(headers);
     Metadata trailers = new Metadata();
-    trailers.put(Metadata.Key.of(":status", Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER), "401");
+    trailers.put(testStatusMashaller, "401");
     state.transportTrailersReceived(trailers);
 
     verify(mockListener).headersRead(headers);