diff --git a/elasticsearch/connection/base.py b/elasticsearch/connection/base.py
index c0206b2e..21486679 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/connection/base.py
+++ b/elasticsearch/connection/base.py
@@ -61,7 +61,9 @@ class Connection(object):
         path = path.replace('?', '?pretty&', 1) if '?' in path else path + '?pretty'
         if self.url_prefix:
             path = path.replace(self.url_prefix, '', 1)
-        tracer.info("curl -X%s 'http://localhost:9200%s' -d '%s'", method, path, self._pretty_json(body) if body else '')
+        tracer.info("curl %s-X%s 'http://localhost:9200%s' -d '%s'",
+                    "-H 'Content-Type: application/json' " if body else '',
+                    method, path, self._pretty_json(body) if body else '')
 
         if tracer.isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG):
             tracer.debug('#[%s] (%.3fs)\n#%s', status_code, duration, self._pretty_json(response).replace('\n', '\n#') if response else '')
diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py
index 9282e1e1..b2d84996 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ class TestRequestsConnection(TestCase):
         # trace request
         self.assertEquals(1, tracer.info.call_count)
         self.assertEquals(
-            """curl -XGET 'http://localhost:9200/?pretty&param=42' -d '{\n  "question": "what\\u0027s that?"\n}'""",
+            """curl -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -XGET 'http://localhost:9200/?pretty&param=42' -d '{\n  "question": "what\\u0027s that?"\n}'""",
             tracer.info.call_args[0][0] % tracer.info.call_args[0][1:]
         )
         # trace response
@@ -234,6 +234,6 @@ class TestRequestsConnection(TestCase):
         # trace request
         self.assertEquals(1, tracer.info.call_count)
         self.assertEquals(
-            "curl -XGET 'http://localhost:9200/_search?pretty' -d '{\n  \"answer\": 42\n}'",
+            "curl -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -XGET 'http://localhost:9200/_search?pretty' -d '{\n  \"answer\": 42\n}'",
             tracer.info.call_args[0][0] % tracer.info.call_args[0][1:]
         )