Yes, in the current form of the code, it is.

I guess this is a leftover from a previous iteration, where I detect whether it is a Hash or a String, and if its the latter, I coerce it into a Hash.

That way, under some circumstances, the code actually behaves correctly (w.r.t the response being where the user expects it).

I can change this to always treat it as a String, once we commit to that route.