diff --git a/UPGRADING.md b/UPGRADING.md
index 418cc89b1a..5f778176c9 100644
--- a/UPGRADING.md
+++ b/UPGRADING.md
@@ -41,6 +41,19 @@ Prior to this version the response would be `one is missing`.
 
 See [#1510](https://github.com/ruby-grape/grape/pull/1510) for more information.
 
+#### Change default status code of DELETE to 204
+
+**Breaking change**: Sets the default response status code for a delete request to 204.
+Doing it makes the response more explicit, cause a delete request returns in most cases an empty body – the resource was deleted/voided. By setting it to 204, other as 200, makes the handling on consumer side easier.
+
+To achieve the old behaviour, one has to set it explicitly:
+```ruby
+delete :id do
+  status 200
+  'foo successfully deleted'
+end
+```
+
 ### Upgrading to >= 0.17.0
 
 #### Removed official support for Ruby < 2.2.2
diff --git a/lib/grape/dsl/inside_route.rb b/lib/grape/dsl/inside_route.rb
index 22f13e017a..76a74c65be 100644
--- a/lib/grape/dsl/inside_route.rb
+++ b/lib/grape/dsl/inside_route.rb
@@ -129,6 +129,8 @@ def status(status = nil)
           case request.request_method.to_s.upcase
           when Grape::Http::Headers::POST
             201
+          when Grape::Http::Headers::DELETE
+            204
           else
             200
           end
diff --git a/spec/grape/dsl/inside_route_spec.rb b/spec/grape/dsl/inside_route_spec.rb
index cf6dc31cf2..f262851662 100644
--- a/spec/grape/dsl/inside_route_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/grape/dsl/inside_route_spec.rb
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def initialize
   end
 
   describe '#status' do
-    %w(GET PUT DELETE OPTIONS).each do |method|
+    %w(GET PUT OPTIONS).each do |method|
       it 'defaults to 200 on GET' do
         request = Grape::Request.new(Rack::MockRequest.env_for('/', method: method))
         expect(subject).to receive(:request).and_return(request)
@@ -105,6 +105,12 @@ def initialize
       expect(subject.status).to eq 201
     end
 
+    it 'defaults to 204 on DELETE' do
+      request = Grape::Request.new(Rack::MockRequest.env_for('/', method: 'DELETE'))
+      expect(subject).to receive(:request).and_return(request)
+      expect(subject.status).to eq 204
+    end
+
     it 'returns status set' do
       subject.status 501
       expect(subject.status).to eq 501
diff --git a/spec/grape/endpoint_spec.rb b/spec/grape/endpoint_spec.rb
index 2fc94e5340..bf17c641e5 100644
--- a/spec/grape/endpoint_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/grape/endpoint_spec.rb
@@ -1095,32 +1095,65 @@ def memoized
   end
 
   context 'anchoring' do
-    verbs = %w(post get head delete put options patch)
+    describe 'delete 204' do
+      it 'allows for the anchoring option with a delete method' do
+        subject.send(:delete, '/example', anchor: true) {}
+        send(:delete, '/example/and/some/more')
+        expect(last_response.status).to eql 404
+      end
 
-    verbs.each do |verb|
-      it "allows for the anchoring option with a #{verb.upcase} method" do
-        subject.send(verb, '/example', anchor: true) do
-          verb
-        end
-        send(verb, '/example/and/some/more')
+      it 'anchors paths by default for the delete method' do
+        subject.send(:delete, '/example') {}
+        send(:delete, '/example/and/some/more')
         expect(last_response.status).to eql 404
       end
 
-      it "anchors paths by default for the #{verb.upcase} method" do
-        subject.send(verb, '/example') do
-          verb
+      it 'responds to /example/and/some/more for the non-anchored delete method' do
+        subject.send(:delete, '/example', anchor: false) {}
+        send(:delete, '/example/and/some/more')
+        expect(last_response.status).to eql 204
+        expect(last_response.body).to be_empty
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe 'delete 200, with response body' do
+      it 'responds to /example/and/some/more for the non-anchored delete method' do
+        subject.send(:delete, '/example', anchor: false) do
+          status 200
+          body 'deleted'
         end
-        send(verb, '/example/and/some/more')
-        expect(last_response.status).to eql 404
+        send(:delete, '/example/and/some/more')
+        expect(last_response.status).to eql 200
+        expect(last_response.body).not_to be_empty
       end
+    end
 
-      it "responds to /example/and/some/more for the non-anchored #{verb.upcase} method" do
-        subject.send(verb, '/example', anchor: false) do
-          verb
+    describe 'all other' do
+      %w(post get head put options patch).each do |verb|
+        it "allows for the anchoring option with a #{verb.upcase} method" do
+          subject.send(verb, '/example', anchor: true) do
+            verb
+          end
+          send(verb, '/example/and/some/more')
+          expect(last_response.status).to eql 404
+        end
+
+        it "anchors paths by default for the #{verb.upcase} method" do
+          subject.send(verb, '/example') do
+            verb
+          end
+          send(verb, '/example/and/some/more')
+          expect(last_response.status).to eql 404
+        end
+
+        it "responds to /example/and/some/more for the non-anchored #{verb.upcase} method" do
+          subject.send(verb, '/example', anchor: false) do
+            verb
+          end
+          send(verb, '/example/and/some/more')
+          expect(last_response.status).to eql verb == 'post' ? 201 : 200
+          expect(last_response.body).to eql verb == 'head' ? '' : verb
         end
-        send(verb, '/example/and/some/more')
-        expect(last_response.status).to eql verb == 'post' ? 201 : 200
-        expect(last_response.body).to eql verb == 'head' ? '' : verb
       end
     end
   end