diff --git a/swift/account/server.py b/swift/account/server.py
index 18bd3f212b..a51bf64054 100644
--- a/swift/account/server.py
+++ b/swift/account/server.py
@@ -199,12 +199,12 @@ class AccountController(object):
         except UnicodeDecodeError, err:
             return HTTPBadRequest(body='parameters not utf8',
                                   content_type='text/plain', request=req)
-        header_format = req.accept.first_match(['text/plain',
-                                                'application/json',
-                                                'application/xml'])
-        format = query_format if query_format else header_format
-        if format.startswith('application/'):
-            format = format[12:]
+        header_format = req.accept.best_match(['text/plain',
+                                               'application/json',
+                                               'application/xml'])
+        format = query_format or header_format or 'text/plain'
+        if '/' in format:
+            format = format.split('/')[-1]
         account_list = broker.list_containers_iter(limit, marker, prefix,
                                                   delimiter)
         if format == 'json':
diff --git a/swift/container/server.py b/swift/container/server.py
index ff8dc76684..8ec5573213 100644
--- a/swift/container/server.py
+++ b/swift/container/server.py
@@ -278,14 +278,15 @@ class ContainerController(object):
         except UnicodeDecodeError, err:
             return HTTPBadRequest(body='parameters not utf8',
                                   content_type='text/plain', request=req)
-        header_format = req.accept.first_match(['text/plain',
-                                                'application/json',
-                                                'application/xml'])
-        format = query_format if query_format else header_format
-        if format.startswith('application/'):
-            format = format[12:]
+        header_format = req.accept.best_match(['text/plain',
+                                               'application/json',
+                                               'application/xml'])
+        format = query_format or header_format or 'text/plain'
+        if '/' in format:
+            format = format.split('/')[-1]
         container_list = broker.list_objects_iter(limit, marker, prefix,
                                                   delimiter, path)
+        print "format is %s" % format
         if format == 'json':
             out_content_type = 'application/json'
             json_pattern = ['"name":%s', '"hash":"%s"', '"bytes":%s',
diff --git a/test/unit/container/test_server.py b/test/unit/container/test_server.py
index 7aaee688e8..8a2d79c926 100644
--- a/test/unit/container/test_server.py
+++ b/test/unit/container/test_server.py
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ class TestContainerController(unittest.TestCase):
         resp = self.controller.GET(req)
         self.assertEquals(resp.status_int, 412)
 
-    def test_GET_format(self):
+    def test_GET_json(self):
         # make a container
         req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'PUT',
             'HTTP_X_TIMESTAMP': '0'})
@@ -514,8 +514,80 @@ class TestContainerController(unittest.TestCase):
                     "bytes":0,
                     "content_type":"text/plain",
                     "last_modified":"1970-01-01T00:00:01"}]
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c?format=json', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'application/json')
+        result = eval(resp.body)
+        self.assertEquals(result, json_body)
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+        req.accept = 'application/json'
+        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'application/json')
+        result = eval(resp.body)
+        self.assertEquals(result, json_body)
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+        req.accept = 'application/*'
+        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+        result = eval(resp.body)
+        self.assertEquals(result, json_body)
+
+    def test_GET_plain(self):
+        # make a container
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/plainc', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'PUT',
+            'HTTP_X_TIMESTAMP': '0'})
+        resp = self.controller.PUT(req)
+        # fill the container
+        for i in range(3):
+            req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/plainc/%s'%i, environ=
+                    {'REQUEST_METHOD': 'PUT',
+                    'HTTP_X_TIMESTAMP': '1',
+                    'HTTP_X_CONTENT_TYPE': 'text/plain',
+                    'HTTP_X_ETAG': 'x',
+                    'HTTP_X_SIZE': 0})
+            resp = self.controller.PUT(req)
+            self.assertEquals(resp.status_int, 201)
+        plain_body = '0\n1\n2\n'
+
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/plainc',
+                environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'text/plain')
+        self.assertEquals(resp.body, plain_body)
+
+        for accept in ('', 'text/plain', 'application/xml;q=0.8,*/*;q=0.9',
+                       '*/*;q=0.9,application/xml;q=0.8', '*/*'):
+            req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/plainc',
+                    environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+            req.accept = accept
+            resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+            self.assertEquals(resp.body, plain_body)
+            self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'text/plain')
+
+        # test conflicting formats
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/plainc?format=plain',
+                environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+        req.accept = 'application/json'
+        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'text/plain')
+        self.assertEquals(resp.body, plain_body)
+
+    def test_GET_xml(self):
+        # make a container
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/xmlc', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'PUT',
+            'HTTP_X_TIMESTAMP': '0'})
+        resp = self.controller.PUT(req)
+        # fill the container
+        for i in range(3):
+            req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/xmlc/%s'%i, environ=
+                    {'REQUEST_METHOD': 'PUT',
+                    'HTTP_X_TIMESTAMP': '1',
+                    'HTTP_X_CONTENT_TYPE': 'text/plain',
+                    'HTTP_X_ETAG': 'x',
+                    'HTTP_X_SIZE': 0})
+            resp = self.controller.PUT(req)
+            self.assertEquals(resp.status_int, 201)
         xml_body = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n' \
-            '<container name="c">' \
+            '<container name="xmlc">' \
                 '<object><name>0</name><hash>x</hash><bytes>0</bytes>' \
                     '<content_type>text/plain</content_type>' \
                     '<last_modified>1970-01-01T00:00:01' \
@@ -529,46 +601,21 @@ class TestContainerController(unittest.TestCase):
                     '<last_modified>1970-01-01T00:00:01' \
                     '</last_modified></object>' \
             '</container>'
-        plain_body = '0\n1\n2\n'
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c?format=json', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
-        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
-        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'application/json')
-        result = eval(resp.body)
-        self.assertEquals(result, json_body)
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c?format=xml', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+        # tests
+        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/xmlc?format=xml',
+                environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
         resp = self.controller.GET(req)
         self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'application/xml')
-        result = resp.body
-        self.assertEquals(result, xml_body)
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
-        req.accept = 'application/json'
-        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
-        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'application/json')
-        result = eval(resp.body)
-        self.assertEquals(result, json_body)
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
-        req.accept = '*/*'
-        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
-        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'text/plain')
-        result = resp.body
-        self.assertEquals(result, plain_body)
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
-        req.accept = 'application/*'
-        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
-        result = eval(resp.body)
-        self.assertEquals(result, json_body)
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
-        req.accept = 'application/xml'
-        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
-        result = resp.body
-        self.assertEquals(result, xml_body)
-        # test conflicting formats
-        req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/c?format=plain', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
-        req.accept = 'application/json'
-        resp = self.controller.GET(req)
-        self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'text/plain')
-        result = resp.body
-        self.assertEquals(result, plain_body)
+        self.assertEquals(resp.body, xml_body)
+
+        for xml_accept in ('application/xml', 'application/xml;q=1.0,*/*;q=0.9',
+                           '*/*;q=0.9,application/xml;q=1.0'):
+            req = Request.blank('/sda1/p/a/xmlc',
+                    environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET'})
+            req.accept = xml_accept
+            resp = self.controller.GET(req)
+            self.assertEquals(resp.body, xml_body)
+            self.assertEquals(resp.content_type, 'application/xml')
 
     def test_GET_marker(self):
         # make a container