diff --git a/apps/routerconsole/jsp/flags.jsp b/apps/routerconsole/jsp/flags.jsp
index fc93fcea7..00ce370fb 100644
--- a/apps/routerconsole/jsp/flags.jsp
+++ b/apps/routerconsole/jsp/flags.jsp
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ if (c != null && c.length() > 0) {
     if (rendered)
         cout.close();
 }
+/*
+ *  Send a 403 instead of a 404, because the server sends error.jsp
+ *  for 404 errors, complete with the summary bar, which would be
+ *  a huge load for a page full of flags if the user didn't have the
+ *  flags directory for some reason.
+ */
 if (!rendered)
-    response.sendError(404, "Not found");
+    response.sendError(403, "Flag not found");
 %>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/routerconsole/jsp/viewstat.jsp b/apps/routerconsole/jsp/viewstat.jsp
index aee42b958..392a37b89 100644
--- a/apps/routerconsole/jsp/viewstat.jsp
+++ b/apps/routerconsole/jsp/viewstat.jsp
@@ -63,7 +63,12 @@ if ( !rendered && ((rs != null) || fakeBw) ) {
     }
   } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {}
 }
+/*
+ *  Send a 403 instead of a 404, because the server sends error.jsp
+ *  for 404 errors, complete with the summary bar, which would be
+ *  a huge load for a page full of graphs if there's a problem
+ */
 if (!rendered) {
-  response.sendError(404, "That stat is not available");
+  response.sendError(403, "That stat is not available");
 }
 %>
\ No newline at end of file