diff --git a/examples/HeaderManipulation/HeaderManipulation.ino b/examples/HeaderManipulation/HeaderManipulation.ino
index cc1c1c1f9..5b4c9f7b3 100644
--- a/examples/HeaderManipulation/HeaderManipulation.ino
+++ b/examples/HeaderManipulation/HeaderManipulation.ino
@@ -79,6 +79,29 @@ void setup() {
     )
     .addMiddleware(&headerFree);
 
+  // curl -v http://192.168.4.1/
+  server.on("/", HTTP_GET, [](AsyncWebServerRequest *request) {
+    AsyncWebServerResponse *response = request->beginResponse(200, "text/plain", "Hello, world!");
+    response->addHeader(AsyncWebHeader::parse("X-Test-1: value1"));
+    response->addHeader(AsyncWebHeader::parse("X-Test-2:value2"));
+    response->addHeader(AsyncWebHeader::parse("X-Test-3:"));
+    response->addHeader(AsyncWebHeader::parse("X-Test-4: "));
+    response->addHeader(AsyncWebHeader::parse(""));
+    response->addHeader(AsyncWebHeader::parse(":"));
+    request->send(response);
+    /**
+< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
+< connection: close
+< X-Test-1: value1
+< X-Test-2: value2
+< X-Test-3:
+< X-Test-4:
+< accept-ranges: none
+< content-length: 13
+< content-type: text/plain
+     */
+  });
+
   server.begin();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/AsyncWebHeader.cpp b/src/AsyncWebHeader.cpp
index 6fbc82641..6e659e96b 100644
--- a/src/AsyncWebHeader.cpp
+++ b/src/AsyncWebHeader.cpp
@@ -3,37 +3,32 @@
 
 #include <ESPAsyncWebServer.h>
 
-AsyncWebHeader::AsyncWebHeader(const String &data) {
+const AsyncWebHeader AsyncWebHeader::parse(const char *data) {
+  // https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Headers
+  // In HTTP/1.X, a header is a case-insensitive name followed by a colon, then optional whitespace which will be ignored, and finally by its value
   if (!data) {
-    return;
+    return AsyncWebHeader();  // nullptr
   }
-  int index = data.indexOf(':');
-  if (index < 0) {
-    return;
+  if (data[0] == '\0') {
+    return AsyncWebHeader();  // empty string
   }
-  if (data.indexOf('\r') >= 0 || data.indexOf('\n') >= 0) {
-// Note: do not log as info, warn or error because this could flood the logs without being able to filter this out
-#ifdef ESP32
-    log_v("Invalid character in HTTP header");
-#endif
-    return;  // Invalid header format
+  if (strchr(data, '\n') || strchr(data, '\r')) {
+    return AsyncWebHeader();  // Invalid header format
   }
-  _name = data.substring(0, index);
-  _value = data.substring(index + 2);
-}
-
-String AsyncWebHeader::toString() const {
-  String str;
-  if (str.reserve(_name.length() + _value.length() + 2)) {
-    str.concat(_name);
-    str.concat((char)0x3a);
-    str.concat((char)0x20);
-    str.concat(_value);
-    str.concat(asyncsrv::T_rn);
-  } else {
-#ifdef ESP32
-    log_e("Failed to allocate");
-#endif
+  char *colon = strchr(data, ':');
+  if (!colon) {
+    return AsyncWebHeader();  // separator not found
+  }
+  if (colon == data) {
+    return AsyncWebHeader();  // Header name cannot be empty
+  }
+  char *startOfValue = colon + 1;  // Skip the colon
+  // skip one optional whitespace after the colon
+  if (*startOfValue == ' ') {
+    startOfValue++;
   }
-  return str;
+  String name;
+  name.reserve(colon - data);
+  name.concat(data, colon - data);
+  return AsyncWebHeader(name, String(startOfValue));
 }
diff --git a/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h b/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h
index ae45d131f..48569a5c0 100644
--- a/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h
+++ b/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h
@@ -135,12 +135,20 @@ class AsyncWebHeader {
   String _value;
 
 public:
+  AsyncWebHeader() {}
   AsyncWebHeader(const AsyncWebHeader &) = default;
+  AsyncWebHeader(AsyncWebHeader &&) = default;
   AsyncWebHeader(const char *name, const char *value) : _name(name), _value(value) {}
   AsyncWebHeader(const String &name, const String &value) : _name(name), _value(value) {}
-  AsyncWebHeader(const String &data);
+
+#ifndef ESP8266
+  [[deprecated("Use AsyncWebHeader::parse(data) instead")]]
+#endif
+  AsyncWebHeader(const String &data)
+    : AsyncWebHeader(parse(data)){};
 
   AsyncWebHeader &operator=(const AsyncWebHeader &) = default;
+  AsyncWebHeader &operator=(AsyncWebHeader &&other) = default;
 
   const String &name() const {
     return _name;
@@ -148,7 +156,18 @@ class AsyncWebHeader {
   const String &value() const {
     return _value;
   }
+
   String toString() const;
+
+  // returns true if the header is valid
+  operator bool() const {
+    return _name.length();
+  }
+
+  static const AsyncWebHeader parse(const String &data) {
+    return parse(data.c_str());
+  }
+  static const AsyncWebHeader parse(const char *data);
 };
 
 /*
@@ -1038,6 +1057,10 @@ class AsyncWebServerResponse {
     setContentType(type.c_str());
   }
   void setContentType(const char *type);
+  bool addHeader(AsyncWebHeader &&header, bool replaceExisting = true);
+  bool addHeader(const AsyncWebHeader &header, bool replaceExisting = true) {
+    return header && addHeader(header.name(), header.value(), replaceExisting);
+  }
   bool addHeader(const char *name, const char *value, bool replaceExisting = true);
   bool addHeader(const String &name, const String &value, bool replaceExisting = true) {
     return addHeader(name.c_str(), value.c_str(), replaceExisting);
diff --git a/src/WebRequest.cpp b/src/WebRequest.cpp
index 1227f325c..3e651d636 100644
--- a/src/WebRequest.cpp
+++ b/src/WebRequest.cpp
@@ -341,10 +341,10 @@ bool AsyncWebServerRequest::_parseReqHead() {
 }
 
 bool AsyncWebServerRequest::_parseReqHeader() {
-  int index = _temp.indexOf(':');
-  if (index) {
-    String name(_temp.substring(0, index));
-    String value(_temp.substring(index + 2));
+  AsyncWebHeader header = AsyncWebHeader::parse(_temp);
+  if (header) {
+    const String &name = header.name();
+    const String &value = header.value();
     if (name.equalsIgnoreCase(T_Host)) {
       _host = value;
     } else if (name.equalsIgnoreCase(T_Content_Type)) {
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ bool AsyncWebServerRequest::_parseReqHeader() {
         _reqconntype = RCT_EVENT;
       }
     }
-    _headers.emplace_back(name, value);
+    _headers.emplace_back(std::move(header));
   }
 #if defined(TARGET_RP2040) || defined(TARGET_RP2350) || defined(PICO_RP2040) || defined(PICO_RP2350) || defined(LIBRETINY)
   // Ancient PRI core does not have String::clear() method 8-()
diff --git a/src/WebResponses.cpp b/src/WebResponses.cpp
index 3de8f329e..862ba19d1 100644
--- a/src/WebResponses.cpp
+++ b/src/WebResponses.cpp
@@ -134,6 +134,30 @@ bool AsyncWebServerResponse::headerMustBePresentOnce(const String &name) {
   return false;
 }
 
+bool AsyncWebServerResponse::addHeader(AsyncWebHeader &&header, bool replaceExisting) {
+  if (!header) {
+    return false;  // invalid header
+  }
+  for (auto i = _headers.begin(); i != _headers.end(); ++i) {
+    if (i->name().equalsIgnoreCase(header.name())) {
+      // header already set
+      if (replaceExisting) {
+        // remove, break and add the new one
+        _headers.erase(i);
+        break;
+      } else if (headerMustBePresentOnce(i->name())) {  // we can have only one header with that name
+        // do not update
+        return false;
+      } else {
+        break;  // accept multiple headers with the same name
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  // header was not found found, or existing one was removed
+  _headers.emplace_back(std::move(header));
+  return true;
+}
+
 bool AsyncWebServerResponse::addHeader(const char *name, const char *value, bool replaceExisting) {
   for (auto i = _headers.begin(); i != _headers.end(); ++i) {
     if (i->name().equalsIgnoreCase(name)) {