diff --git a/swift/common/utils.py b/swift/common/utils.py
index a5badaab9b..2e6de38cb4 100644
--- a/swift/common/utils.py
+++ b/swift/common/utils.py
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ utf8_encoder = codecs.getencoder('utf-8')
 
 from swift import gettext_ as _
 import swift.common.exceptions
-from swift.common.http import is_success, is_redirection, HTTP_NOT_FOUND
+from swift.common.http import is_success, is_redirection, HTTP_NOT_FOUND, \
+    HTTP_PRECONDITION_FAILED, HTTP_REQUESTED_RANGE_NOT_SATISFIABLE
+
 
 # logging doesn't import patched as cleanly as one would like
 from logging.handlers import SysLogHandler
@@ -989,6 +991,24 @@ class StatsdClient(object):
                                sample_rate)
 
 
+def server_handled_successfully(status_int):
+    """
+    True for successful responses *or* error codes that are not Swift's fault,
+    False otherwise. For example, 500 is definitely the server's fault, but
+    412 is an error code (4xx are all errors) that is due to a header the
+    client sent.
+
+    If one is tracking error rates to monitor server health, one would be
+    advised to use a function like this one, lest a client cause a flurry of
+    404s or 416s and make a spurious spike in your errors graph.
+    """
+    return (is_success(status_int) or
+            is_redirection(status_int) or
+            status_int == HTTP_NOT_FOUND or
+            status_int == HTTP_PRECONDITION_FAILED or
+            status_int == HTTP_REQUESTED_RANGE_NOT_SATISFIABLE)
+
+
 def timing_stats(**dec_kwargs):
     """
     Returns a decorator that logs timing events or errors for public methods in
@@ -1001,9 +1021,7 @@ def timing_stats(**dec_kwargs):
         def _timing_stats(ctrl, *args, **kwargs):
             start_time = time.time()
             resp = func(ctrl, *args, **kwargs)
-            if is_success(resp.status_int) or \
-                    is_redirection(resp.status_int) or \
-                    resp.status_int == HTTP_NOT_FOUND:
+            if server_handled_successfully(resp.status_int):
                 ctrl.logger.timing_since(method + '.timing',
                                          start_time, **dec_kwargs)
             else:
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
index 4d874c4da8..059674f01f 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
@@ -3050,6 +3050,20 @@ class TestStatsdLogging(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(mock_controller.args[0], 'METHOD.timing')
         self.assert_(mock_controller.args[1] > 0)
 
+        mock_controller = MockController(412)
+        METHOD(mock_controller)
+        self.assertEquals(len(mock_controller.args), 2)
+        self.assertEquals(mock_controller.called, 'timing')
+        self.assertEquals(mock_controller.args[0], 'METHOD.timing')
+        self.assert_(mock_controller.args[1] > 0)
+
+        mock_controller = MockController(416)
+        METHOD(mock_controller)
+        self.assertEquals(len(mock_controller.args), 2)
+        self.assertEquals(mock_controller.called, 'timing')
+        self.assertEquals(mock_controller.args[0], 'METHOD.timing')
+        self.assert_(mock_controller.args[1] > 0)
+
         mock_controller = MockController(401)
         METHOD(mock_controller)
         self.assertEquals(len(mock_controller.args), 2)