Either the documentation at link below needs updating or
there's a bug in Apache 2.2.17.
Or there's a user error. :-)
I tested once more before submitting bug report and now it's working, just as
documented. No changes on our side. I think our
servers can smell it when I'm posting here
When a *local URL-path* is used the original status code should be used but
we're getting a 200 code when using ErrorDocument 404 /error/404.php
Either the documentation at link below needs updating or there's a bug in
Apache 2.2.17. If I don't hear back on this list, I'll
submit bug report.