diff --git a/Database/HSparql/Connection.hs b/Database/HSparql/Connection.hs
--- a/Database/HSparql/Connection.hs
+++ b/Database/HSparql/Connection.hs
@@ -70,9 +70,11 @@
 -- |Parses the response from a SPARQL ASK query. Either "true" or "false" is expected
 parseAsk :: String -> Bool
 parseAsk s
-  | s == "true" = True
-  | s == "false" = False
+  | (s' == "true" || s' == "yes") = True
+  | (s' == "false"|| s' == "no")  = False
   | otherwise = error $ "Unexpected Ask response: " ++ s
+ where
+  s' = reverse $ dropWhile (=='\n') $ reverse s
 
 -- |Parses the response from a SPARQL UPDATE query.  An empty body is expected
 parseUpdate :: String -> Bool
@@ -100,7 +102,10 @@
 askQuery :: Database.HSparql.Connection.EndPoint -> Query AskQuery -> IO Bool
 askQuery ep q = do
     let uri = ep ++ "?" ++ urlEncodeVars [("query", createAskQuery q)]
-        request  = replaceHeader HdrUserAgent "hsparql-client" (getRequest uri)
+        hdr1 = Header HdrUserAgent "hsparql-client"
+        hdr2 = Header HdrAccept "text/plain"
+        hdr3 = Header HdrAcceptCharset "utf-8"
+        request  = insertHeaders [hdr1,hdr2,hdr3] (getRequest uri)
     response <- simpleHTTP request >>= getResponseBody
     return $ parseAsk response
 
diff --git a/hsparql.cabal b/hsparql.cabal
--- a/hsparql.cabal
+++ b/hsparql.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Name:          hsparql
 Homepage:      https://github.com/robstewart57/hsparql
-Version:       0.2.4
+Version:       0.2.5
 Synopsis:      A SPARQL query generator and DSL, and a client to query a SPARQL server.
 Category:      Database
 Description: