diff --git a/cms/envs/common.py b/cms/envs/common.py
index 38913f537a..c79cfe7aa7 100644
--- a/cms/envs/common.py
+++ b/cms/envs/common.py
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@ TEMPLATE_LOADERS = (
 )
 
 MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
-    'contentserver.middleware.StaticContentServer',
     'request_cache.middleware.RequestCache',
     'django.middleware.cache.UpdateCacheMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
@@ -150,6 +149,7 @@ MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
 
     # Instead of AuthenticationMiddleware, we use a cache-backed version
     'cache_toolbox.middleware.CacheBackedAuthenticationMiddleware',
+    'contentserver.middleware.StaticContentServer',
 
     'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
     'track.middleware.TrackMiddleware',
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py b/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py
index 8d81929693..30ab977b96 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/contentserver/middleware.py
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ class StaticContentServer(object):
             # Check that user has access to content
             if getattr(content, "locked", False):
                 if not hasattr(request, "user") or not request.user.is_authenticated():
-                    return redirect('login')
-                course_id = "/".join([loc.org, loc.course, loc.name])
-                if not CourseEnrollment.is_enrolled(request.user, course_id):
-                    return redirect('dashboard')
+                    return HttpResponse('Unauthorized', status=403)
+                course_partial_id = "/".join([loc.org, loc.course])
+                if not CourseEnrollment.is_enrolled_by_partial(request.user, course_partial_id):
+                    return HttpResponse('Unauthorized', status=403)
 
 
             # see if the last-modified at hasn't changed, if not return a 302 (Not Modified)
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/contentserver/tests/test.py b/common/djangoapps/contentserver/tests/test.py
index 340092b4d3..7313ba3f9b 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/contentserver/tests/test.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/contentserver/tests/test.py
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@ class ContentStoreToyCourseTest(ModuleStoreTestCase):
 
         # Case (1)
         resp = self.client.get(self.url)
-        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 302)
-        self.assertTrue(resp.has_header("LOCATION"))
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 403)
 
         # Case (2)
         #   Create user and login
@@ -110,13 +109,11 @@ class ContentStoreToyCourseTest(ModuleStoreTestCase):
 
         resp = self.client.get(self.url)
         log.debug("Received response %s", resp)
-        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 302)
-        self.assertTrue(resp.has_header("LOCATION"))
-        self.assertIn("dashboard", resp["LOCATION"])
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 403)
 
         # Case (3)
         #   Enroll student
-        course_id = "/".join([self.loc.org, self.loc.course, self.loc.name])
+        course_id = "/".join([self.loc.org, self.loc.course, '2012_Fall'])
         CourseEnrollment.enroll(user, course_id)
         self.assertTrue(CourseEnrollment.is_enrolled(user, course_id))
 
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/models.py b/common/djangoapps/student/models.py
index 71cff4183b..8cda698d8b 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/models.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/models.py
@@ -843,6 +843,31 @@ class CourseEnrollment(models.Model):
         except cls.DoesNotExist:
             return False
 
+    @classmethod
+    def is_enrolled_by_partial(cls, user, course_id_partial):
+        """
+        Returns `True` if the user is enrolled in a course that starts with
+        `course_id_partial`. Otherwise, returns False.
+
+        Can be used to determine whether a student is enrolled in a course
+        whose run name is unknown.
+
+        `user` is a Django User object. If it hasn't been saved yet (no `.id`
+               attribute), this method will automatically save it before
+               adding an enrollment for it.
+
+        `course_id_partial` is a starting substring for a fully qualified
+               course_id (e.g. "edX/Test101/").
+        """
+        try:
+            return CourseEnrollment.objects.filter(
+                    user=user,
+                    course_id__startswith=course_id_partial,
+                    is_active=1
+                ).exists()
+        except cls.DoesNotExist:
+            return False
+
     @classmethod
     def enrollment_mode_for_user(cls, user, course_id):
         """