diff --git a/pkg/server.go b/pkg/server.go
index 3e2376c..743a590 100644
--- a/pkg/server.go
+++ b/pkg/server.go
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ func (s *Server) Run() {
 }
 
 func (s *Server) serveButaneTranslator(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	// Set content type to json
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=UTF-8")
+
 	// Set hostname from host header
 	fqdn := strings.Split(r.Host, ":")[0]
 	if fqdn == "" {
@@ -66,16 +69,18 @@ func (s *Server) serveButaneTranslator(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		httpError(w, "Error parsing hostname")
 		return
 	}
-	log.Debugf("Served ignition config for %s at %s", hostname, r.RemoteAddr)
+	log.Infof("Serving ignition config for %s at %s", hostname, r.RemoteAddr)
 
+	// Respond with ignition config including rendered hostname
 	args := struct{ Hostname string }{Hostname: hostname}
 	ignitionConfig, err := CreateIgnitionConfig(s.Config.TemplatePath, args)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error(err.Error())
-		httpError(w, "failed to render ignition config")
+		httpError(w, "failed to render butane template")
 	} else {
-		log.Infof("Successfully rendered ignition config")
+		log.Infof("Successfully rendered butane template into ignition config")
 		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-		json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(string(ignitionConfig))
+		json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(ignitionConfig)
 	}
+
 }
diff --git a/pkg/zippo.go b/pkg/zippo.go
index 12eb5ea..b1c7878 100644
--- a/pkg/zippo.go
+++ b/pkg/zippo.go
@@ -34,16 +34,16 @@ func Render(templatePath string, args interface{}) (*bytes.Buffer, error) {
 }
 
 // CreateIgnitionConfig creates an ignition config from a rendered butane template with a given hostname
-func CreateIgnitionConfig(butaneTemplate string, hostname interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
+func CreateIgnitionConfig(butaneTemplate string, hostname interface{}) (string, error) {
 	butaneConfig, err := Render(butaneTemplate, hostname)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return "", err
 	}
 
 	ignitionConfig, r, err := config.TranslateBytes(butaneConfig.Bytes(), common.TranslateBytesOptions{Pretty: true})
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "error translating config: %s", r.String())
+		return "", errors.Wrapf(err, "error translating config: %s", r.String())
 	}
 
-	return ignitionConfig, nil
+	return string(ignitionConfig), nil
 }