diff --git a/swift/common/internal_client.py b/swift/common/internal_client.py
index 10549d112f..a71a1fc70d 100644
--- a/swift/common/internal_client.py
+++ b/swift/common/internal_client.py
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ class InternalClient(object):
                                     defaults to (2,).
 
         :returns : A dict of metadata with metadata_prefix stripped from keys.
+                   Keys will be lowercase.
 
         :raises UnexpectedResponse: Exception raised when requests fail
                                     to get a response with an acceptable status
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ class InternalClient(object):
         metadata = {}
         for k, v in resp.headers.iteritems():
             if k.lower().startswith(metadata_prefix):
-                metadata[k[len(metadata_prefix):]] = v
+                metadata[k[len(metadata_prefix):].lower()] = v
         return metadata
 
     def _iter_items(
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ class InternalClient(object):
         :param acceptable_statuses: List of status for valid responses,
                                     defaults to (2,).
 
-        :returns : Returns dict of account metadata.
+        :returns : Returns dict of account metadata.  Keys will be lowercase.
 
         :raises UnexpectedResponse: Exception raised when requests fail
                                     to get a response with an acceptable status
@@ -467,7 +468,7 @@ class InternalClient(object):
         :param acceptable_statuses: List of status for valid responses,
                                     defaults to (2,).
 
-        :returns : Returns dict of container metadata.
+        :returns : Returns dict of container metadata.  Keys will be lowercase.
 
         :raises UnexpectedResponse: Exception raised when requests fail
                                     to get a response with an acceptable status
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py b/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py
index 8971fb8596..cdfa4cc3ac 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_internal_client.py
@@ -377,10 +377,10 @@ class TestInternalClient(unittest.TestCase):
         metadata_prefix = 'some_key-'
         resp_headers = {
             '%sone' % (metadata_prefix): '1',
-            '%stwo' % (metadata_prefix): '2',
-            '%sthree' % (metadata_prefix): '3',
+            '%sTwo' % (metadata_prefix): '2',
+            '%sThree' % (metadata_prefix): '3',
             'some_header-four': '4',
-            'some_header-five': '5',
+            'Some_header-five': '5',
         }
         exp_metadata = {
             'one': '1',