diff --git a/nodes/core/io/21-httpin.js b/nodes/core/io/21-httpin.js
index 3d9d6b5c8..7fdeeaa25 100644
--- a/nodes/core/io/21-httpin.js
+++ b/nodes/core/io/21-httpin.js
@@ -60,12 +60,14 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
             };
 
             this.callback = function(req,res) {
+                var msgid = RED.util.generateId();
+                res._msgid = msgid;
                 if (node.method.match(/(^post$|^delete$|^put$|^options$)/)) {
-                    node.send({req:req,res:res,payload:req.body});
+                    node.send({_msgid:msgid,req:req,res:res,payload:req.body});
                 } else if (node.method == "get") {
-                    node.send({req:req,res:res,payload:req.query});
+                    node.send({_msgid:msgid,req:req,res:res,payload:req.query});
                 } else {
-                    node.send({req:req,res:res});
+                    node.send({_msgid:msgid,req:req,res:res});
                 }
             };
 
@@ -90,14 +92,14 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                 metricsHandler = function(req, res, next) {
                     var startAt = process.hrtime();
                     onHeaders(res, function() {
-                        if (res._msgId) {
+                        if (res._msgid) {
                             var diff = process.hrtime(startAt);
                             var ms = diff[0] * 1e3 + diff[1] * 1e-6;
                             var metricResponseTime = ms.toFixed(3);
                             var metricContentLength = res._headers["content-length"];
                             //assuming that _id has been set for res._metrics in HttpOut node!
-                            node.metric("response.time.millis", {_id:res._msgId} , metricResponseTime);
-                            node.metric("response.content-length.bytes", {_id:res._msgId} , metricContentLength);
+                            node.metric("response.time.millis", {_msgid:res._msgid} , metricResponseTime);
+                            node.metric("response.content-length.bytes", {_msgid:res._msgid} , metricContentLength);
                         }
                     });
                     next();
@@ -167,7 +169,6 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
                         msg.res.set('content-length', len);
                     }
 
-                    msg.res._msgId = msg._id;
                     msg.res.send(statusCode,msg.payload);
                 }
             } else {
diff --git a/red/nodes/Node.js b/red/nodes/Node.js
index cb48479af..ff0ca4626 100644
--- a/red/nodes/Node.js
+++ b/red/nodes/Node.js
@@ -96,10 +96,6 @@ Node.prototype.close = function() {
     }
 };
 
-function constructUniqueIdentifier() {
-    return (1+Math.random()*4294967295).toString(16);
-}
-
 Node.prototype.send = function(msg) {
     var msgSent = false;
     var node;
@@ -112,7 +108,7 @@ Node.prototype.send = function(msg) {
             // TODO: pre-load flows.get calls - cannot do in constructor
             //       as not all nodes are defined at that point
             if (!msg._msgid) {
-                msg._msgid = constructUniqueIdentifier();
+                msg._msgid = redUtil.generateId();
             }
             this.metric("send",msg);
             node = flows.get(this._wire);
@@ -171,7 +167,7 @@ Node.prototype.send = function(msg) {
     }
     /* istanbul ignore else */
     if (!sentMessageId) {
-        sentMessageId = constructUniqueIdentifier();
+        sentMessageId = redUtil.generateId();
     }
     this.metric("send",{_msgid:sentMessageId});
 
@@ -190,7 +186,7 @@ Node.prototype.receive = function(msg) {
         msg = {};
     }
     if (!msg._msgid) {
-        msg._msgid = constructUniqueIdentifier();
+        msg._msgid = redUtil.generateId();
     }
     this.metric("receive",msg);
     try { 
diff --git a/red/util.js b/red/util.js
index 6e4da1339..12bb537e9 100644
--- a/red/util.js
+++ b/red/util.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * Copyright 2014 IBM Corp.
+ * Copyright 2014, 2015 IBM Corp.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 
 var clone = require("clone");
 
+function generateId() {
+    return (1+Math.random()*4294967295).toString(16);
+}
+
 function ensureString(o) {
     if (Buffer.isBuffer(o)) {
         return o.toString();
@@ -103,5 +107,6 @@ module.exports = {
     ensureString: ensureString,
     ensureBuffer: ensureBuffer,
     cloneMessage: cloneMessage,
-    compareObjects: compareObjects
+    compareObjects: compareObjects,
+    generateId: generateId
 };
diff --git a/test/red/util_spec.js b/test/red/util_spec.js
index 2c7878a8c..a512bcf18 100644
--- a/test/red/util_spec.js
+++ b/test/red/util_spec.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * Copyright 2014 IBM Corp.
+ * Copyright 2014, 2015 IBM Corp.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,7 +17,13 @@ var should = require("should");
 var util = require("../../red/util");
 
 describe("red/util", function() {
-    // only test for things not tested by overall grunt
+    describe('generateId', function() {
+        it('generates an id', function() {
+            var id = util.generateId();
+            var id2 = util.generateId();
+            id.should.not.eql(id2);
+        });
+    });
     describe('compareObjects', function() {
         it('unequal arrays are unequal', function() {
             util.compareObjects(["a"],"a").should.equal(false);