diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index a426d317..f4b471e4 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ swift_middleware_list:
   - account-quotas
   - slo
   - dlo
+  - versioned_writes
   - proxy-logging
   - proxy-server
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/swift-versioned-writes-middleware-0b529e3cf2fb493d.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/swift-versioned-writes-middleware-0b529e3cf2fb493d.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8a98738
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/swift-versioned-writes-middleware-0b529e3cf2fb493d.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+features:
+  - Swift ``versioned_writes`` middleware is added to the
+    pipeline by default. Additionally the
+    ``allow_versioned_writes`` settings in the middleware
+    configuration is set to ``True``. This follows the
+    Swift defaults, and enables the use of the
+    ``X-History-Location`` metadata Header.
diff --git a/templates/proxy-server.conf.j2 b/templates/proxy-server.conf.j2
index bf51b505..fc1092ea 100644
--- a/templates/proxy-server.conf.j2
+++ b/templates/proxy-server.conf.j2
@@ -171,6 +171,10 @@ use = egg:swift#slo
 [filter:dlo]
 use = egg:swift#dlo
 
+[filter:versioned_writes]
+use = egg:swift#versioned_writes
+allow_versioned_writes = True
+
 [filter:account-quotas]
 use = egg:swift#account_quotas