diff --git a/oauthproxy.go b/oauthproxy.go
index 971005d..9c82d4f 100644
--- a/oauthproxy.go
+++ b/oauthproxy.go
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ const (
 	// Cookies are limited to 4kb including the length of the cookie name,
 	// the cookie name can be up to 256 bytes
 	maxCookieLength = 3840
+
+	applicationJSON = "application/json"
 )
 
 // SignatureHeaders contains the headers to be signed by the hmac algorithm
@@ -754,6 +756,8 @@ func (p *OAuthProxy) Proxy(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		} else {
 			p.SignInPage(rw, req, http.StatusForbidden)
 		}
+	} else if status == http.StatusUnauthorized {
+		p.ErrorJSON(rw, status)
 	} else {
 		p.serveMux.ServeHTTP(rw, req)
 	}
@@ -826,6 +830,11 @@ func (p *OAuthProxy) Authenticate(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) int
 	}
 
 	if session == nil {
+		// Check if is an ajax request and return unauthorized to avoid a redirect
+		// to the login page
+		if p.isAjax(req) {
+			return http.StatusUnauthorized
+		}
 		return http.StatusForbidden
 	}
 
@@ -894,3 +903,24 @@ func (p *OAuthProxy) CheckBasicAuth(req *http.Request) (*providers.SessionState,
 	}
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s not in HtpasswdFile", pair[0])
 }
+
+// isAjax checks if a request is an ajax request
+func (p *OAuthProxy) isAjax(req *http.Request) bool {
+	acceptValues, ok := req.Header["accept"]
+	if !ok {
+		acceptValues = req.Header["Accept"]
+	}
+	const ajaxReq = applicationJSON
+	for _, v := range acceptValues {
+		if v == ajaxReq {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// ErrorJSON returns the error code witht an application/json mime type
+func (p *OAuthProxy) ErrorJSON(rw http.ResponseWriter, code int) {
+	rw.Header().Set("Content-Type", applicationJSON)
+	rw.WriteHeader(code)
+}
diff --git a/oauthproxy_test.go b/oauthproxy_test.go
index a5dd545..927f886 100644
--- a/oauthproxy_test.go
+++ b/oauthproxy_test.go
@@ -871,3 +871,67 @@ func TestGetRedirect(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+type ajaxRequestTest struct {
+	opts  *Options
+	proxy *OAuthProxy
+}
+
+func newAjaxRequestTest() *ajaxRequestTest {
+	test := &ajaxRequestTest{}
+	test.opts = NewOptions()
+	test.opts.CookieSecret = "foobar"
+	test.opts.ClientID = "bazquux"
+	test.opts.ClientSecret = "xyzzyplugh"
+	test.opts.Validate()
+	test.proxy = NewOAuthProxy(test.opts, func(email string) bool {
+		return true
+	})
+	return test
+}
+
+func (test *ajaxRequestTest) getEndpoint(endpoint string, header http.Header) (int, http.Header, error) {
+	rw := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, endpoint, strings.NewReader(""))
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, nil, err
+	}
+	req.Header = header
+	test.proxy.ServeHTTP(rw, req)
+	return rw.Code, rw.Header(), nil
+}
+
+func testAjaxUnauthorizedRequest(t *testing.T, header http.Header) {
+	test := newAjaxRequestTest()
+	endpoint := "/test"
+
+	code, rh, err := test.getEndpoint(endpoint, header)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusUnauthorized, code)
+	mime := rh.Get("Content-Type")
+	assert.Equal(t, applicationJSON, mime)
+}
+func TestAjaxUnauthorizedRequest1(t *testing.T) {
+	header := make(http.Header)
+	header.Add("accept", applicationJSON)
+
+	testAjaxUnauthorizedRequest(t, header)
+}
+
+func TestAjaxUnauthorizedRequest2(t *testing.T) {
+	header := make(http.Header)
+	header.Add("Accept", applicationJSON)
+
+	testAjaxUnauthorizedRequest(t, header)
+}
+
+func TestAjaxForbiddendRequest(t *testing.T) {
+	test := newAjaxRequestTest()
+	endpoint := "/test"
+	header := make(http.Header)
+	code, rh, err := test.getEndpoint(endpoint, header)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusForbidden, code)
+	mime := rh.Get("Content-Type")
+	assert.NotEqual(t, applicationJSON, mime)
+}