diff --git a/importlib_metadata/_adapters.py b/importlib_metadata/_adapters.py
index aa460d3e..c8576cd9 100644
--- a/importlib_metadata/_adapters.py
+++ b/importlib_metadata/_adapters.py
@@ -39,6 +39,20 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
     def __iter__(self):
         return super().__iter__()
 
+    def __getitem__(self, item):
+        """
+        Prefer dict-like behavior for __getitem__ when keys are missing.
+        >>> msg = Message(email.message.Message())
+        >>> msg['thing']
+        Traceback (most recent call last):
+        ...
+        KeyError: 'thing'
+        """
+        res = super().__getitem__(item)
+        if res is None:
+            raise KeyError(item)
+        return res
+
     def _repair_headers(self):
         def redent(value):
             "Correct for RFC822 indentation"
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index a9c1f194..d3ae8144 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@ def test_importlib_metadata_version(self):
         resolved = version('importlib-metadata')
         assert re.match(self.version_pattern, resolved)
 
-    @__import__('pytest').mark.xfail(reason="not implemented #371")
     def test_missing_key(self):
         """
         Attempting to request missing metadata raises KeyError.