diff --git a/caddytest/integration/caddyfile_adapt/file_server_status.txt b/caddytest/integration/caddyfile_adapt/file_server_status.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ede1f4add
--- /dev/null
+++ b/caddytest/integration/caddyfile_adapt/file_server_status.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+localhost
+
+root * /srv
+
+handle /nope* {
+	file_server {
+		status 403
+	}
+}
+
+handle /custom-status* {
+	file_server {
+		status {env.CUSTOM_STATUS}
+	}
+}
+----------
+{
+	"apps": {
+		"http": {
+			"servers": {
+				"srv0": {
+					"listen": [
+						":443"
+					],
+					"routes": [
+						{
+							"match": [
+								{
+									"host": [
+										"localhost"
+									]
+								}
+							],
+							"handle": [
+								{
+									"handler": "subroute",
+									"routes": [
+										{
+											"handle": [
+												{
+													"handler": "vars",
+													"root": "/srv"
+												}
+											]
+										},
+										{
+											"group": "group2",
+											"handle": [
+												{
+													"handler": "subroute",
+													"routes": [
+														{
+															"handle": [
+																{
+																	"handler": "file_server",
+																	"hide": [
+																		"./Caddyfile"
+																	],
+																	"status_code": "{env.CUSTOM_STATUS}"
+																}
+															]
+														}
+													]
+												}
+											],
+											"match": [
+												{
+													"path": [
+														"/custom-status*"
+													]
+												}
+											]
+										},
+										{
+											"group": "group2",
+											"handle": [
+												{
+													"handler": "subroute",
+													"routes": [
+														{
+															"handle": [
+																{
+																	"handler": "file_server",
+																	"hide": [
+																		"./Caddyfile"
+																	],
+																	"status_code": 403
+																}
+															]
+														}
+													]
+												}
+											],
+											"match": [
+												{
+													"path": [
+														"/nope*"
+													]
+												}
+											]
+										}
+									]
+								}
+							],
+							"terminal": true
+						}
+					]
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/caddyfile.go b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/caddyfile.go
index 2ba53f2b1..447f4811c 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/caddyfile.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/caddyfile.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func init() {
 //        index         <files...>
 //        browse        [<template_file>]
 //        precompressed <formats...>
+//        status        <status>
 //    }
 //
 func parseCaddyfile(h httpcaddyfile.Helper) (caddyhttp.MiddlewareHandler, error) {
@@ -65,21 +66,25 @@ func parseCaddyfile(h httpcaddyfile.Helper) (caddyhttp.MiddlewareHandler, error)
 				if len(fsrv.Hide) == 0 {
 					return nil, h.ArgErr()
 				}
+
 			case "index":
 				fsrv.IndexNames = h.RemainingArgs()
 				if len(fsrv.IndexNames) == 0 {
 					return nil, h.ArgErr()
 				}
+
 			case "root":
 				if !h.Args(&fsrv.Root) {
 					return nil, h.ArgErr()
 				}
+
 			case "browse":
 				if fsrv.Browse != nil {
 					return nil, h.Err("browsing is already configured")
 				}
 				fsrv.Browse = new(Browse)
 				h.Args(&fsrv.Browse.TemplateFile)
+
 			case "precompressed":
 				var order []string
 				for h.NextArg() {
@@ -100,6 +105,13 @@ func parseCaddyfile(h httpcaddyfile.Helper) (caddyhttp.MiddlewareHandler, error)
 					order = append(order, h.Val())
 				}
 				fsrv.PrecompressedOrder = order
+
+			case "status":
+				if !h.NextArg() {
+					return nil, h.ArgErr()
+				}
+				fsrv.StatusCode = caddyhttp.WeakString(h.Val())
+
 			default:
 				return nil, h.Errf("unknown subdirective '%s'", h.Val())
 			}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go
index c67078857..660e1d190 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go
@@ -75,6 +75,12 @@ type FileServer struct {
 	// remove trailing slash from URIs for files. Default is true.
 	CanonicalURIs *bool `json:"canonical_uris,omitempty"`
 
+	// Override the status code written when successfully serving a file.
+	// Particularly useful when explicitly serving a file as display for
+	// an error, like a 404 page. A placeholder may be used. By default,
+	// the status code will typically be 200, or 206 for partial content.
+	StatusCode caddyhttp.WeakString `json:"status_code,omitempty"`
+
 	// If pass-thru mode is enabled and a requested file is not found,
 	// it will invoke the next handler in the chain instead of returning
 	// a 404 error. By default, this is false (disabled).
@@ -345,6 +351,16 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// if a status code override is configured, write the status code
+	// before serving the file
+	if codeStr := fsrv.StatusCode.String(); codeStr != "" {
+		intVal, err := strconv.Atoi(repl.ReplaceAll(codeStr, ""))
+		if err != nil {
+			return caddyhttp.Error(http.StatusInternalServerError, err)
+		}
+		w.WriteHeader(intVal)
+	}
+
 	// let the standard library do what it does best; note, however,
 	// that errors generated by ServeContent are written immediately
 	// to the response, so we cannot handle them (but errors there