def get_metadata(self, obj, prefix=None):
        """
        Returns the metadata for the specified object as a dict.
        """
        uri = "/%s/%s" % (self.uri_base, utils.get_name(obj))
        resp, resp_body = self.api.method_head(uri)
        ret = {}
        # Add the metadata prefix, if needed.
        if prefix is None:
            prefix = OBJECT_META_PREFIX
        low_prefix = prefix.lower()
        for hkey, hval in list(resp.headers.items()):
            lowkey = hkey.lower()
            if lowkey.startswith(low_prefix):
                cleaned = hkey.replace(low_prefix, "").replace("-", "_")
                ret[cleaned] = hval
        return ret