diff --git a/apisix/cli/ngx_tpl.lua b/apisix/cli/ngx_tpl.lua
index 7255a10e1c11..b7c1e1735291 100644
--- a/apisix/cli/ngx_tpl.lua
+++ b/apisix/cli/ngx_tpl.lua
@@ -492,8 +492,6 @@ http {
             set $upstream_cache_key             '';
             set $upstream_cache_bypass          '';
             set $upstream_no_cache              '';
-            set $upstream_hdr_expires           '';
-            set $upstream_hdr_cache_control     '';
 
             proxy_cache                         $upstream_cache_zone;
             proxy_cache_valid                   any {% if proxy_cache.cache_ttl then %} {* proxy_cache.cache_ttl *} {% else %} 10s {% end %};
@@ -505,11 +503,6 @@ http {
             proxy_no_cache                      $upstream_no_cache;
             proxy_cache_bypass                  $upstream_cache_bypass;
 
-            proxy_hide_header                   Cache-Control;
-            proxy_hide_header                   Expires;
-            add_header      Cache-Control       $upstream_hdr_cache_control;
-            add_header      Expires             $upstream_hdr_expires;
-            add_header      Apisix-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status always;
             {% end %}
 
             proxy_pass      $upstream_scheme://apisix_backend$upstream_uri;
diff --git a/apisix/core/ctx.lua b/apisix/core/ctx.lua
index 962a2705fe3f..d87342b93221 100644
--- a/apisix/core/ctx.lua
+++ b/apisix/core/ctx.lua
@@ -129,8 +129,6 @@ do
         upstream_no_cache          = true,
         upstream_cache_key         = true,
         upstream_cache_bypass      = true,
-        upstream_hdr_expires       = true,
-        upstream_hdr_cache_control = true,
     }
 
     local mt = {
diff --git a/apisix/plugins/proxy-cache.lua b/apisix/plugins/proxy-cache.lua
index b3acbb06a8dd..78a285802c30 100644
--- a/apisix/plugins/proxy-cache.lua
+++ b/apisix/plugins/proxy-cache.lua
@@ -266,14 +266,21 @@ function _M.header_filter(conf, ctx)
         end
     end
 
+    local upstream_hdr_cache_control
+    local upstream_hdr_expires
+
     if conf.hide_cache_headers == true then
-        ctx.var.upstream_hdr_cache_control = ""
-        ctx.var.upstream_hdr_expires = ""
+        upstream_hdr_cache_control = ""
+        upstream_hdr_expires = ""
     else
-        ctx.var.upstream_hdr_cache_control = ctx.var.upstream_http_cache_control
-        ctx.var.upstream_hdr_expires = ctx.var.upstream_http_expires
+        upstream_hdr_cache_control = ctx.var.upstream_http_cache_control
+        upstream_hdr_expires = ctx.var.upstream_http_expires
     end
 
+    core.response.set_header("Cache-Control", upstream_hdr_cache_control,
+                             "Expires", upstream_hdr_expires,
+                             "Apisix-Cache-Status", ctx.var.upstream_cache_status)
+
     ctx.var.upstream_no_cache = no_cache
     core.log.info("proxy-cache no cache:", no_cache)
 end
diff --git a/t/APISIX.pm b/t/APISIX.pm
index 1a51d1e35a30..feb82d0c5463 100644
--- a/t/APISIX.pm
+++ b/t/APISIX.pm
@@ -539,8 +539,6 @@ _EOC_
             set \$upstream_cache_key             '';
             set \$upstream_cache_bypass          '';
             set \$upstream_no_cache              '';
-            set \$upstream_hdr_expires           '';
-            set \$upstream_hdr_cache_control     '';
 
             proxy_cache                         \$upstream_cache_zone;
             proxy_cache_valid                   any 10s;
@@ -552,12 +550,6 @@ _EOC_
             proxy_no_cache                      \$upstream_no_cache;
             proxy_cache_bypass                  \$upstream_cache_bypass;
 
-            proxy_hide_header                   Cache-Control;
-            proxy_hide_header                   Expires;
-            add_header      Cache-Control       \$upstream_hdr_cache_control;
-            add_header      Expires             \$upstream_hdr_expires;
-            add_header      Apisix-Cache-Status \$upstream_cache_status always;
-
             access_by_lua_block {
                 -- wait for etcd sync
                 ngx.sleep($wait_etcd_sync)
diff --git a/t/plugin/proxy-cache.t b/t/plugin/proxy-cache.t
index 5a1e2442d51a..c1d6dcd7cfcd 100644
--- a/t/plugin/proxy-cache.t
+++ b/t/plugin/proxy-cache.t
@@ -688,3 +688,52 @@ GET /t
 qr/failed to check the configuration of plugin proxy-cache err: cache_key variable \$request_method unsupported/
 --- no_error_log
 [error]
+
+
+
+=== TEST 25: don't override cache relative headers
+--- config
+       location /t {
+           content_by_lua_block {
+               local t = require("lib.test_admin").test
+               local code, body = t('/apisix/admin/routes/1',
+                    ngx.HTTP_PUT,
+                    [[{
+                        "upstream": {
+                            "nodes": {
+                                "127.0.0.1:1980": 1
+                            },
+                            "type": "roundrobin"
+                        },
+                        "uri": "/echo"
+                   }]]
+                   )
+
+               if code >= 300 then
+                   ngx.status = code
+               end
+               ngx.say(body)
+           }
+       }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- response_body
+passed
+--- no_error_log
+[error]
+
+
+
+=== TEST 26: hit route
+--- request
+GET /echo
+--- more_headers
+Apisix-Cache-Status: Foo
+Cache-Control: bar
+Expires: any
+--- response_headers
+Apisix-Cache-Status: Foo
+Cache-Control: bar
+Expires: any
+--- no_error_log
+[error]