diff --git a/lib/clacks/activitypub/fetcher.ex b/lib/clacks/activitypub/fetcher.ex
index 98b37a7..fbefd86 100644
--- a/lib/clacks/activitypub/fetcher.ex
+++ b/lib/clacks/activitypub/fetcher.ex
@@ -38,9 +38,8 @@ defmodule Clacks.ActivityPub.Fetcher do
     Logger.debug("Attempting to fetch AP object at #{uri}")
 
     headers = [Accept: "application/activity+json, application/ld+json"]
-    opts = [hackney: Application.get_env(:clacks, :hackney_opts, [])]
 
-    with {:ok, %HTTPoison.Response{body: body}} <- Clacks.HTTP.get(uri, headers, opts),
+    with {:ok, %HTTPoison.Response{body: body}} <- Clacks.HTTP.get(uri, headers),
          {:ok, data} <- Jason.decode(body) do
       data
     else
diff --git a/lib/clacks/http.ex b/lib/clacks/http.ex
index 7eff8d1..da7c807 100644
--- a/lib/clacks/http.ex
+++ b/lib/clacks/http.ex
@@ -1,8 +1,22 @@
 defmodule Clacks.HTTP do
   require Logger
 
-  def get(url, headers \\ [], options \\ []) do
-    case HTTPoison.get(url, headers, options) do
+  @spec get(url :: String.t(), headers :: [{String.t(), String.t()}]) ::
+          {:ok, HTTPoison.Response.t()} | {:error, String.t()}
+  def get(url, headers \\ []) do
+    fetch(:get, url, headers)
+  end
+
+  @spec head(url :: String.t(), headers :: [{String.t(), String.t()}]) ::
+          {:ok, HTTPoison.Response.t()} | {:error, String.t()}
+  def head(url, headers \\ []) do
+    fetch(:head, url, headers)
+  end
+
+  defp fetch(method, url, headers) do
+    opts = [hackney: Application.get_env(:clacks, :hackney_opts, [])]
+
+    case HTTPoison.request(method, url, "", headers, opts) do
       {:ok, %HTTPoison.Response{status_code: status_code} = response}
       when status_code in 200..299 ->
         {:ok, response}
@@ -24,7 +38,7 @@ defmodule Clacks.HTTP do
               end
 
             Logger.debug("Got 301 redirect from #{url} to #{new_url}")
-            get(new_url, headers, options)
+            fetch(method, new_url, headers)
 
           _ ->
             {:error, "Missing Location header for redirect"}
@@ -40,7 +54,7 @@ defmodule Clacks.HTTP do
         {:error, "HTTP #{status_code}"}
 
       {:error, %HTTPoison.Error{reason: reason}} ->
-        {:error, reason}
+        {:error, inspect(reason)}
     end
   end
 end