diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/CodegenOperation.java b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/CodegenOperation.java
index 871b3f261c0..7183c4d3456 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/CodegenOperation.java
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/CodegenOperation.java
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ public class CodegenOperation {
     public final List<CodegenProperty> responseHeaders = new ArrayList<CodegenProperty>();
     public Boolean hasAuthMethods, hasConsumes, hasProduces, hasParams, returnTypeIsPrimitive,
             returnSimpleType, subresourceOperation, isMapContainer, isListContainer,
-            hasMore = Boolean.TRUE, isMultipart, isResponseBinary = Boolean.FALSE;
+            hasMore = Boolean.TRUE, isMultipart, isResponseBinary = Boolean.FALSE,
+            hasReference = Boolean.FALSE;
     public String path, operationId, returnType, httpMethod, returnBaseType,
             returnContainer, summary, notes, baseName, defaultResponse;
     public List<Map<String, String>> consumes, produces;
diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java
index 6085aee7781..33e192b2b94 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java
@@ -1201,6 +1201,7 @@ public class DefaultCodegen {
                     op.examples = new ExampleGenerator(definitions).generate(methodResponse.getExamples(), operation.getProduces(), responseProperty);
                     op.defaultResponse = toDefaultValue(responseProperty);
                     op.returnType = cm.datatype;
+                    op.hasReference = definitions != null && definitions.containsKey(op.returnBaseType);
                     if (cm.isContainer != null) {
                         op.returnContainer = cm.containerType;
                         if ("map".equals(cm.containerType)) {
diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/htmlDocs/index.mustache b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/htmlDocs/index.mustache
index 9473309ff83..83cd24e72d0 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/htmlDocs/index.mustache
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/htmlDocs/index.mustache
@@ -94,17 +94,15 @@
     </div>  <!-- field-items -->
     {{/hasFormParams}}
 
-    <!-- Remove Return type... unclear where this comes from;
-         for our swagger.json files, it is always empty and there is no boolean guard or hasReturnType
-         do we end up with a heading but not content
-
     {{#returnType}}
     <h3 class="field-label">Return type</h3>
-    <div class="return-type"><a href="#{{returnContainer}}">{{{returnType}}}</a></div>
+    <div class="return-type">
+      {{#hasReference}}{{^returnSimpleType}}{{returnContainer}}[{{/returnSimpleType}}<a href="#{{returnBaseType}}">{{returnBaseType}}</a>{{^returnSimpleType}}]{{/returnSimpleType}}{{/hasReference}}
+      {{^hasReference}}{{returnType}}{{/hasReference}}
+    </div>
     {{/returnType}}
 
-    Todo: process Response Object and its headers, schema, examples
-    -->
+    <!--Todo: process Response Object and its headers, schema, examples -->
 
     {{#hasExamples}}
     {{#examples}}