Why doesn't {if no_results}{redirect="404"}{/if} return a 404 header?

Question

Under Design > Templates > Global Template Preferences I have Strict URLS set to yes and I've defined the 404 page (It lives at /errors/404).

We're running EE 2.8.1 and PHP 5.3.27

Something like http://site.com/foo displays the 404 template and properly returns a 404 header.

This URL exists and displays content properly http://site.com/groups/studies/i-love-my-church

The problem

http://site.com/groups/studies/foo displays the 404 template, but incorrectly returns a 200 response. (http://cl.ly/image/3E3U1N2X2j1L)

EE Docs state that EE will only evaluate the first two segments unless used in conjunction with the require_entry parameter. Unfortunately, using this doesn't change the header.

The code

groups/_studies-collection:

{exp:channel:entries channel="groups_study" url_title="{segment_3}" require_entry="yes" dynamic="off" status="Featured|Open"}

    Content Here

    {if no_results}
        {redirect="404"}
    {/if}
{/exp:channel:entries}

groups/studies:

{if segment_3}
    {if segment_4}
        {embed="groups/_studies-entry"}
    {if:else}
        {exp:md_detect_page_type url_segment="{segment_3}"}
            {if pagination_page}
                {embed="groups/_studies-list"}
            {if:else}
                {embed="groups/_studies-collection"}
            {/if}
        {/exp:md_detect_page_type}
    {/if}
{if:else}
    {embed="newspring:groups/_studies-list"}
{/if}

Any clarity on this issue would be appreciated!

Answer 1

I don't know if it's also in the bug reports, but there is a note in the changelog for 2.9.1 :

Fixed a bug in the 404 redirect behavior when used inside a no_results tag on an embedded template.

This might be your issue if it works as expected outside of an embed.

Answer 2

The no results conditional doesn't necessarily mean it's a 404 and the fact you have a template called "404" doesn't mean that EE will assume it requires a 404 header - it's just another template.

The strict URLs setting will mean any URL not picked up natively by templates will get the 404 header assigned to it - your URL on the other hand is being passed through a template.

[Edit - seeing as the native 404 redirect isn't working...]

You need to drop a plugin into your 404 template to correctly, try one of these: http://devot-ee.com/search/results?keywords=404+redirect+header&addon_version_support=ee2