diff --git a/lib/context.js b/lib/context.js
index 1b92f018c..9d57b7ebe 100644
--- a/lib/context.js
+++ b/lib/context.js
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ delegate(proto, 'response')
   .method('set')
   .method('append')
   .method('flushHeaders')
+  .method('back')
   .access('status')
   .access('message')
   .access('body')
diff --git a/lib/response.js b/lib/response.js
index 371875fe1..fc355e61e 100644
--- a/lib/response.js
+++ b/lib/response.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ const extname = require('path').extname;
 const vary = require('vary');
 const only = require('only');
 const util = require('util');
+const deprecate = require('depd')('koa');
 
 /**
  * Prototype.
@@ -259,7 +260,11 @@ module.exports = {
 
   redirect(url, alt) {
     // location
-    if ('back' == url) url = this.ctx.get('Referrer') || alt || '/';
+    if ('back' == url) {
+      deprecate('Special-cased string "back" through redirect will be removed in v3, ' +
+                'consider migrating usage to ctx.back() instead.');
+      url = this.ctx.get('Referrer') || alt || '/';
+    }
     this.set('Location', url);
 
     // status
@@ -278,6 +283,24 @@ module.exports = {
     this.body = `Redirecting to ${url}.`;
   },
 
+  /**
+   * Perform a special-cased "back" to provide Referrer support.
+   * When Referrer is not present, `alt` or "/" is used.
+   *
+   * Examples:
+   *
+   *    ctx.back()
+   *    ctx.back('/index.html')
+   *
+   * @param {String} [alt]
+   * @api public
+   */
+
+  back(alt) {
+    const url = this.ctx.get('Referrer') || alt || '/';
+    this.redirect(url);
+  },
+
   /**
    * Set Content-Disposition header to "attachment" with optional `filename`.
    *
diff --git a/test/response/back.js b/test/response/back.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e6c30c378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/response/back.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+
+'use strict';
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+const context = require('../helpers/context');
+
+describe('ctx.back([alt])', () => {
+  it('should redirect to Referrer', () => {
+    const ctx = context();
+    ctx.req.headers.referrer = '/login';
+    ctx.back();
+    assert.equal(ctx.response.header.location, '/login');
+  });
+
+  it('should redirect to Referer', () => {
+    const ctx = context();
+    ctx.req.headers.referer = '/login';
+    ctx.back();
+    assert.equal(ctx.response.header.location, '/login');
+  });
+
+  it('should default to alt', () => {
+    const ctx = context();
+    ctx.back('/index.html');
+    assert.equal(ctx.response.header.location, '/index.html');
+  });
+
+  it('should default redirect to /', () => {
+    const ctx = context();
+    ctx.back();
+    assert.equal(ctx.response.header.location, '/');
+  });
+});