diff --git a/framework/yii/base/Action.php b/framework/yii/base/Action.php
index 9e0d0735ba..574fd4c97b 100644
--- a/framework/yii/base/Action.php
+++ b/framework/yii/base/Action.php
@@ -41,17 +41,27 @@ class Action extends Component
 	 * @var Controller the controller that owns this action
 	 */
 	public $controller;
-
+	/**
+	 * @var Response
+	 */
 	private $_response;
 
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Response|\yii\console\Response|\yii\web\Response
+	 */
 	public function getResponse()
 	{
 		if ($this->_response === null) {
-			$this->_response = Yii::$app->createResponse();
+			// TODO use applications response factory here
+			//$this->_response = new Response();
 		}
 		return $this->_response;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @param Response $response
+	 */
 	public function setResponse($response)
 	{
 		$this->_response = $response;
@@ -92,8 +102,6 @@ class Action extends Component
 			throw new InvalidConfigException(get_class($this) . ' must define a "run()" method.');
 		}
 		$args = $this->controller->bindActionParams($this, $params);
-		$response = $this->getResponse();
-		$response->result = call_user_func_array(array($this, 'run'), $args);
-		return $response;
+		return call_user_func_array(array($this, 'run'), $args);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/framework/yii/base/Application.php b/framework/yii/base/Application.php
index 01e8112f69..5b805ad12f 100644
--- a/framework/yii/base/Application.php
+++ b/framework/yii/base/Application.php
@@ -155,8 +155,6 @@ abstract class Application extends Module
 	 */
 	abstract public function handleRequest($request);
 
-	public abstract function createResponse();
-
 	private $_runtimePath;
 
 	/**
diff --git a/framework/yii/base/Controller.php b/framework/yii/base/Controller.php
index 49af5fe9cc..af9b169717 100644
--- a/framework/yii/base/Controller.php
+++ b/framework/yii/base/Controller.php
@@ -110,22 +110,38 @@ class Controller extends Component
 		if ($action !== null) {
 			$oldAction = $this->action;
 			$this->action = $action;
-			$result = null;
-			// TODO beforeAction may also create a response somehow.
 			if ($this->module->beforeAction($action)) {
 				if ($this->beforeAction($action)) {
 					$result = $action->runWithParams($params);
+					if ($result !== null) {
+						$this->handleActionResult($result, $action);
+					}
 					$this->afterAction($action);
 				}
 				$this->module->afterAction($action);
 			}
 			$this->action = $oldAction;
-			return $result;
+			return $action->getResponse();
 		} else {
 			throw new InvalidRouteException('Unable to resolve the request: ' . $this->getUniqueId() . '/' . $id);
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Handles the return value of an action
+	 * @param mixed $result
+	 * @param Action $action
+	 */
+	protected abstract function handleActionResult(&$result, $action);
+
+	/**
+	 * @return Response the response object of the current action. null if no action is running
+	 */
+	public function getResponse()
+	{
+		return $this->action !== null ? $this->action->getResponse() : null;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Runs a request specified in terms of a route.
 	 * The route can be either an ID of an action within this controller or a complete route consisting
diff --git a/framework/yii/base/InlineAction.php b/framework/yii/base/InlineAction.php
index e683105f2e..75728e00fe 100644
--- a/framework/yii/base/InlineAction.php
+++ b/framework/yii/base/InlineAction.php
@@ -44,8 +44,6 @@ class InlineAction extends Action
 	public function runWithParams($params)
 	{
 		$args = $this->controller->bindActionParams($this, $params);
-		$response = $this->getResponse();
-		$response->result = call_user_func_array(array($this->controller, $this->actionMethod), $args);
-		return $response;
+		return call_user_func_array(array($this->controller, $this->actionMethod), $args);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/framework/yii/base/Module.php b/framework/yii/base/Module.php
index 6603b28f5e..fbe6064713 100644
--- a/framework/yii/base/Module.php
+++ b/framework/yii/base/Module.php
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ abstract class Module extends Component
 	 * If the route is empty, the method will use [[defaultRoute]].
 	 * @param string $route the route that specifies the action.
 	 * @param array $params the parameters to be passed to the action
-	 * @return mixed the result of the action.
+	 * @return Response the resulting response of the action.
 	 * @throws InvalidRouteException if the requested route cannot be resolved into an action successfully
 	 */
 	public function runAction($route, $params = array())
@@ -582,9 +582,9 @@ abstract class Module extends Component
 			list($controller, $actionID) = $parts;
 			$oldController = Yii::$app->controller;
 			Yii::$app->controller = $controller;
-			$result = $controller->runAction($actionID, $params);
+			$response = $controller->runAction($actionID, $params);
 			Yii::$app->controller = $oldController;
-			return $result;
+			return $response;
 		} else {
 			throw new InvalidRouteException('Unable to resolve the request "' . trim($this->getUniqueId() . '/' . $route, '/') . '".');
 		}
diff --git a/framework/yii/console/Application.php b/framework/yii/console/Application.php
index 2baef94edb..1a58ed63df 100644
--- a/framework/yii/console/Application.php
+++ b/framework/yii/console/Application.php
@@ -88,39 +88,13 @@ class Application extends \yii\base\Application
 	 * Handles the specified request.
 	 * @param Request $request the request to be handled
 	 * @return Response the resulting response
+	 * @throws Exception if the route is invalid
 	 */
 	public function handleRequest($request)
 	{
 		list ($route, $params) = $request->resolve();
-		$result = $this->runAction($route, $params);
-		$response = $this->getResponse();
-		$response->exitStatus = (int)$result;
-		return $response;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Returns the response component.
-	 * @return Response the response component
-	 */
-	public function createResponse()
-	{
-		return new Response();
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Runs a controller action specified by a route.
-	 * This method parses the specified route and creates the corresponding child module(s), controller and action
-	 * instances. It then calls [[Controller::runAction()]] to run the action with the given parameters.
-	 * If the route is empty, the method will use [[defaultRoute]].
-	 * @param string $route the route that specifies the action.
-	 * @param array $params the parameters to be passed to the action
-	 * @return integer the status code returned by the action execution. 0 means normal, and other values mean abnormal.
-	 * @throws Exception if the route is invalid
-	 */
-	public function runAction($route, $params = array())
-	{
 		try {
-			return parent::runAction($route, $params);
+			return $this->runAction($route, $params);
 		} catch (InvalidRouteException $e) {
 			throw new Exception(\Yii::t('yii', 'Unknown command "{command}".', array('{command}' => $route)), 0, $e);
 		}
@@ -152,9 +126,6 @@ class Application extends \yii\base\Application
 			'request' => array(
 				'class' => 'yii\console\Request',
 			),
-			'response' => array(
-				'class' => 'yii\console\Response',
-			),
 		));
 	}
 }
diff --git a/framework/yii/console/Controller.php b/framework/yii/console/Controller.php
index e4d4211eeb..01a70ffc42 100644
--- a/framework/yii/console/Controller.php
+++ b/framework/yii/console/Controller.php
@@ -134,6 +134,16 @@ class Controller extends \yii\base\Controller
 		return $args;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Handles the return value of an action
+	 * @param mixed $result
+	 * @param Action $action
+	 */
+	protected function handleActionResult(&$result, $action)
+	{
+		$action->getResponse()->exitStatus = (int)$result;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Formats a string with ANSI codes
 	 *
diff --git a/framework/yii/web/Application.php b/framework/yii/web/Application.php
index 3994ec2c55..4babc2211a 100644
--- a/framework/yii/web/Application.php
+++ b/framework/yii/web/Application.php
@@ -65,8 +65,7 @@ class Application extends \yii\base\Application
 			$params = array_splice($this->catchAll, 1);
 		}
 		try {
-			$response = $this->runAction($route, $params);
-			return $response;
+			return $this->runAction($route, $params);
 		} catch (InvalidRouteException $e) {
 			throw new HttpException(404, $e->getMessage(), $e->getCode(), $e);
 		}
@@ -107,15 +106,6 @@ class Application extends \yii\base\Application
 		return $this->getComponent('request');
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Returns the response component.
-	 * @return Response the response component
-	 */
-	public function createResponse()
-	{
-		return new Response();
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Returns the session component.
 	 * @return Session the session component
@@ -154,9 +144,6 @@ class Application extends \yii\base\Application
 			'request' => array(
 				'class' => 'yii\web\Request',
 			),
-			'response' => array(
-				'class' => 'yii\web\Response',
-			),
 			'session' => array(
 				'class' => 'yii\web\Session',
 			),
diff --git a/framework/yii/web/Controller.php b/framework/yii/web/Controller.php
index 6214c54461..ee25afce55 100644
--- a/framework/yii/web/Controller.php
+++ b/framework/yii/web/Controller.php
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 namespace yii\web;
 
 use Yii;
+use yii\base\Action;
 use yii\base\InlineAction;
 
 /**
@@ -61,6 +62,16 @@ class Controller extends \yii\base\Controller
 		return $args;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Handles the return value of an action
+	 * @param mixed $result
+	 * @param Action $action
+	 */
+	protected function handleActionResult(&$result, $action)
+	{
+		$action->getResponse()->setContent($result);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Creates a URL using the given route and parameters.
 	 *