diff --git a/client/client.go b/client/client.go
index 62c5a466..782e17ea 100644
--- a/client/client.go
+++ b/client/client.go
@@ -702,20 +702,13 @@ func (cli Client) LoaderEntryStatus(le mig.LoaderEntry, status bool) (err error)
 }
 
 // Change the key on an existing loader entry
-func (cli Client) LoaderEntryKey(le mig.LoaderEntry, key string) (err error) {
+func (cli Client) LoaderEntryKey(le mig.LoaderEntry) (newle mig.LoaderEntry, err error) {
 	defer func() {
 		if e := recover(); e != nil {
 			err = fmt.Errorf("LoaderEntryKey() -> %v", e)
 		}
 	}()
-	if key == "" {
-		panic("invalid loader key specified")
-	}
-	err = mig.ValidateLoaderKey(key)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	data := url.Values{"loaderid": {fmt.Sprintf("%.0f", le.ID)}, "loaderkey": {key}}
+	data := url.Values{"loaderid": {fmt.Sprintf("%.0f", le.ID)}}
 	r, err := http.NewRequest("POST", cli.Conf.API.URL+"loader/key/",
 		strings.NewReader(data.Encode()))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -743,16 +736,25 @@ func (cli Client) LoaderEntryKey(le mig.LoaderEntry, key string) (err error) {
 			resp.StatusCode, resource.Collection.Error.Message, resource.Collection.Error.Code)
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	newle, err = ValueToLoaderEntry(resource.Collection.Items[0].Data[0].Value)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 	return
 }
 
 // Post a new loader entry for storage through the API
-func (cli Client) PostNewLoader(le mig.LoaderEntry) (err error) {
+func (cli Client) PostNewLoader(le mig.LoaderEntry) (newle mig.LoaderEntry, err error) {
 	defer func() {
 		if e := recover(); e != nil {
 			err = fmt.Errorf("PostNewLoader() -> %v", e)
 		}
 	}()
+	// When adding a new loader entry, the prefix and key values should
+	// be "", since the server will be generating them.
+	if le.Prefix != "" || le.Key != "" {
+		panic("loader key and prefix must be unset")
+	}
 	lebuf, err := json.Marshal(le)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
@@ -785,6 +787,10 @@ func (cli Client) PostNewLoader(le mig.LoaderEntry) (err error) {
 			resp.StatusCode, resource.Collection.Error.Message, resource.Collection.Error.Code)
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	newle, err = ValueToLoaderEntry(resource.Collection.Items[0].Data[0].Value)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/client/mig-console/loader.go b/client/mig-console/loader.go
index 49339d58..779721ff 100644
--- a/client/mig-console/loader.go
+++ b/client/mig-console/loader.go
@@ -124,24 +124,20 @@ r                refresh the loader entry (get latest version from database)
 			}
 			fmt.Printf("%v\n", string(jsonle))
 		case "key":
-			fmt.Printf("New key component must be %v alphanumeric characters long, or type 'generate' to generate one\n", mig.LoaderKeyLength)
-			lkey, err := readline.String("New key for loader> ")
+			var nle mig.LoaderEntry
+			input, err := readline.String("generate new key for loader? (y/n)> ")
 			if err != nil {
 				panic(err)
 			}
-			if lkey == "" {
-				panic("invalid key specified")
+			if input != "y" {
+				break
 			}
-			if lkey == "generate" {
-				lkey = mig.GenerateLoaderKey()
-				fmt.Printf("New key will be set to %v\n", lkey)
-			}
-			fmt.Printf("New key including prefix to supply to client will be %q\n", le.Prefix+lkey)
-			err = cli.LoaderEntryKey(le, lkey)
+			nle, err = cli.LoaderEntryKey(le)
 			if err != nil {
 				panic(err)
 			}
-			fmt.Println("Loader key changed")
+			fmt.Print("Loader key changed\n")
+			fmt.Printf("Loader key including prefix to supply to client will be %q\n", nle.Prefix+nle.Key)
 		case "r":
 			reloadfunc()
 		case "":
@@ -180,10 +176,6 @@ func loaderCreator(cli client.Client) (err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	fmt.Println("Generating loader prefix...")
-	newle.Prefix = mig.GenerateLoaderPrefix()
-	fmt.Println("Generating loader key...")
-	newle.Key = mig.GenerateLoaderKey()
 	// Validate the new loader entry before sending it to the API
 	err = newle.Validate()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -194,7 +186,7 @@ func loaderCreator(cli client.Client) (err error) {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("%s\n", jsonle)
-	fmt.Printf("Loader key including prefix to supply to client will be %q\n", newle.Prefix+newle.Key)
+	fmt.Print("Server will assign prefix and key on creation\n")
 	input, err := readline.String("create loader entry? (y/n)> ")
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
@@ -203,10 +195,11 @@ func loaderCreator(cli client.Client) (err error) {
 		fmt.Println("abort")
 		return
 	}
-	err = cli.PostNewLoader(newle)
+	createdle, err := cli.PostNewLoader(newle)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	fmt.Println("New entry successfully created but is disabled")
+	fmt.Printf("Loader key including prefix to supply to client will be %q\n", createdle.Prefix+createdle.Key)
+	fmt.Printf("New entry successfully created (id %v) but is disabled\n", createdle.ID)
 	return
 }
diff --git a/database/loader.go b/database/loader.go
index e4c155b6..8657194e 100644
--- a/database/loader.go
+++ b/database/loader.go
@@ -256,17 +256,22 @@ func (db *DB) LoaderUpdateKey(lid float64, hashkey []byte, salt []byte) (err err
 
 // Add a new loader entry to the database; the hashed loader key should
 // be provided as hashkey
-func (db *DB) LoaderAdd(le mig.LoaderEntry, hashkey []byte, salt []byte) (err error) {
+func (db *DB) LoaderAdd(le mig.LoaderEntry, hashkey []byte, salt []byte) (newle mig.LoaderEntry, err error) {
 	var eval sql.NullString
 	if le.ExpectEnv != "" {
 		eval.String = le.ExpectEnv
 		eval.Valid = true
 	}
-	_, err = db.c.Exec(`INSERT INTO loaders 
+	err = db.c.QueryRow(`INSERT INTO loaders 
 		(loadername, keyprefix, loaderkey, salt, lastseen, enabled,
 		expectenv)
 		VALUES
-		($1, $2, $3, $4, now(), FALSE, $5)`, le.Name,
-		le.Prefix, hashkey, salt, eval)
+		($1, $2, $3, $4, now(), FALSE, $5)
+		RETURNING id`, le.Name,
+		le.Prefix, hashkey, salt, eval).Scan(&le.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	newle = le
 	return
 }
diff --git a/mig-api/apikey.go b/mig-api/apikey.go
index 1f102175..68dbd839 100644
--- a/mig-api/apikey.go
+++ b/mig-api/apikey.go
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ const APIHashedKeyLength = 32
 const APISaltLength = 16
 
 func hashAPIKey(key string, salt []byte, keylen int, saltlen int) (ret []byte, retsalt []byte, err error) {
+	if key == "" {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("loader key cannot be zero length")
+		return
+	}
 	if salt == nil {
 		retsalt = make([]byte, saltlen)
 		_, err = rand.Read(retsalt)
diff --git a/mig-api/manifest_endpoints.go b/mig-api/manifest_endpoints.go
index fea98fff..ea221095 100644
--- a/mig-api/manifest_endpoints.go
+++ b/mig-api/manifest_endpoints.go
@@ -578,15 +578,7 @@ func keyLoader(respWriter http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	lkey := request.FormValue("loaderkey")
-	if lkey == "" {
-		// bad request, return 400
-		resource.SetError(cljs.Error{
-			Code:    fmt.Sprintf("%.0f", opid),
-			Message: "Invalid key specified"})
-		respond(http.StatusBadRequest, resource, respWriter, request)
-		return
-	}
+	lkey := mig.GenerateLoaderKey()
 	err = mig.ValidateLoaderKey(lkey)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
@@ -599,6 +591,16 @@ func keyLoader(respWriter http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	le, err := ctx.DB.GetLoaderFromID(loaderid)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	le.Key = lkey
+	li, err := loaderEntryToItem(le, ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	resource.AddItem(li)
 
 	respond(http.StatusOK, resource, respWriter, request)
 }
@@ -637,16 +639,36 @@ func newLoader(respWriter http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	// Generate the prefix and key will we use for this new loader entry
+	le.Prefix = mig.GenerateLoaderPrefix()
+	le.Key = mig.GenerateLoaderKey()
+	err = mig.ValidateLoaderPrefixAndKey(le.Prefix + le.Key)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 	// Hash the loader key to provide it to LoaderAdd
 	hkey, salt, err := hashAPIKey(le.Key, nil, mig.LoaderHashedKeyLength, mig.LoaderSaltLength)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	err = ctx.DB.LoaderAdd(le, hkey, salt)
+	createle, err := ctx.DB.LoaderAdd(le, hkey, salt)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	// Retain the original loader entry rather than using createle directly here,
+	// since we will be echoing the new key back to the client and it is omitted from
+	// the returned LoaderEntry. We want to get the ID that was used for the new loader
+	// though.
+	le.ID = createle.ID
 
+	li, err := loaderEntryToItem(le, ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	err = resource.AddItem(li)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 	respond(http.StatusCreated, resource, respWriter, request)
 }