diff --git a/demo/kitchen-sink/doclist.js b/demo/kitchen-sink/doclist.js
index 567c62cd..abdc9a3e 100644
--- a/demo/kitchen-sink/doclist.js
+++ b/demo/kitchen-sink/doclist.js
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ function saveDoc(name, callback) {
     else if (parts[0] == "ace")
         path = "lib/" + path;
 
-    net.put(path, doc.session.getValue(), callback);
+    net.request('PUT', path, doc.session.getValue(), callback);
 }
 
 module.exports = {
diff --git a/lib/ace/lib/net.js b/lib/ace/lib/net.js
index 4c07ec2b..357fcb9d 100644
--- a/lib/ace/lib/net.js
+++ b/lib/ace/lib/net.js
@@ -9,22 +9,9 @@ define(function(require, exports, module) {
 "use strict";
 var dom = require("./dom");
 
-exports.get = function (url, callback) {
+exports.request = function (verb, url, data, callback) {
     var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
-    xhr.open('GET', url, true);
-    xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
-        //Do not explicitly handle errors, those should be
-        //visible via console output in the browser.
-        if (xhr.readyState === 4) {
-            callback(xhr.responseText);
-        }
-    };
-    xhr.send(null);
-};
-
-exports.put = function (url, data, callback) {
-    var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
-    xhr.open('PUT', url, true);
+    xhr.open(verb, url, true);
     xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
         //Do not explicitly handle errors, those should be
         //visible via console output in the browser.
@@ -35,6 +22,10 @@ exports.put = function (url, data, callback) {
     xhr.send(data);
 };
 
+exports.get = function (url, callback) {
+    this.request('GET', url, null, callback);
+};
+
 exports.loadScript = function(path, callback) {
     var head = dom.getDocumentHead();
     var s = document.createElement('script');
diff --git a/tool/mode_creator.html b/tool/mode_creator.html
index cd6b2461..b4c66715 100644
--- a/tool/mode_creator.html
+++ b/tool/mode_creator.html
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
     <select id="modeEl" size="1"></select>
     <input type="button" value="&#10227;" title="sync" id="syncToMode"></select>
     <span id="tablist"></span>
-    <input type="button" value="Upload" id="uploadToServer1"></select>
+    <input type="button" value="Save" id="uploadToServer1"></select>
     <span class="separator-h"></span>
     <label for="autorunEl">live preview</label>
     <input type="checkbox" label="autorun" id="autorunEl" checked>
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
         <label for="themeEl">Theme</label>
         <select id="themeEl" size="1" value="textmate"></select>
         <span class="separator-h"></span>
-        <input type="button" value="Upload" id="uploadToServer2"></select>
+        <input type="button" value="Save" id="uploadToServer2"></select>
         <label for="doc">Document</label>
         <select id="doc" size="1"></select>
     </div>
diff --git a/tool/mode_creator.js b/tool/mode_creator.js
index ee235eca..c78345ac 100644
--- a/tool/mode_creator.js
+++ b/tool/mode_creator.js
@@ -96,24 +96,14 @@ var uploadEl2 = document.getElementById("uploadToServer2");
 uploadEl1.onclick = function() {
     var text = savedLeadingComments + editor1.getValue();
     var url = "./lib/ace/mode/" + modeEl.value + "_highlight_rules.js";
-    net.put(url, text, function(text) {
-        if (text.trim().length > 0)
-            log(text);
-        else {
-            uploadEl1.disabled = true;
-            editor1.getSession().getUndoManager().markClean();
-        }
+    net.request('PUT', url, text, function(text) {
+        handle_put_result(text, editor1, uploadEl1);
     });
 };
 editor1.commands.bindKey("Ctrl-S", uploadEl1.onclick);
 uploadEl2.onclick = function() {
     doclist.saveDoc(docEl.value, function(text) {
-        if (text.trim().length > 0)
-            log(text);
-        else {
-            uploadEl2.disabled = true;
-            editor2.getSession().getUndoManager().markClean();
-        }
+        handle_put_result(text, editor2, uploadEl2);
     });
 };
 editor2.commands.bindKey("Ctrl-S", uploadEl2.onclick);
@@ -124,6 +114,22 @@ editor2.on('change', function() {
     uploadEl2.disabled = false;
 });
 
+function handle_put_result(text, editor, buttonEl) {
+    text = text.trim();
+    if (text.length == 0) {
+        buttonEl.disabled = true;
+        editor.getSession().getUndoManager().markClean();
+    } else {
+        if (text.indexOf("405") == 0) {
+            log("Write access to this file is disabled.\n"+
+            "To enable saving your changes to disk, clone the Ace repository"+
+            "\nand run the included static.py web server with the option\n"+
+            "--puttable='lib/ace/mode/*_highlight_rules.js,demo/kitchen-sink/docs/*'");
+        } else
+            log(text);
+    }
+}
+
 document.getElementById("perfTest").onclick = function() {
     var lines = editor2.session.doc.getAllLines();
     if (!lines.length)