diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java
index e1b87ab0e..4f687c36e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/reactive/DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient.java
@@ -804,53 +804,82 @@ public class DefaultReactiveElasticsearchClient implements ReactiveElasticsearch
 
 	private <T> Publisher<? extends T> handleServerError(Request request, ClientResponse response) {
 
-		RestStatus status = RestStatus.fromCode(response.statusCode().value());
+		int statusCode = response.statusCode().value();
+		RestStatus status = RestStatus.fromCode(statusCode);
+		String mediaType = response.headers().contentType().map(MediaType::toString).orElse(XContentType.JSON.mediaType());
 
-		return Mono.error(new ElasticsearchStatusException(String.format("%s request to %s returned error code %s.",
-				request.getMethod(), request.getEndpoint(), response.statusCode().value()), status));
+		return response.body(BodyExtractors.toMono(byte[].class)) //
+				.map(bytes -> new String(bytes, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) //
+				.flatMap(content -> contentOrError(content, mediaType, status))
+				.flatMap(unused -> Mono
+						.error(new ElasticsearchStatusException(String.format("%s request to %s returned error code %s.",
+								request.getMethod(), request.getEndpoint(), statusCode), status)));
 	}
 
 	private <T> Publisher<? extends T> handleClientError(String logId, Request request, ClientResponse response,
 			Class<T> responseType) {
 
+		int statusCode = response.statusCode().value();
+		RestStatus status = RestStatus.fromCode(statusCode);
+		String mediaType = response.headers().contentType().map(MediaType::toString).orElse(XContentType.JSON.mediaType());
+
 		return response.body(BodyExtractors.toMono(byte[].class)) //
 				.map(bytes -> new String(bytes, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) //
-				.flatMap(content -> {
-					String mediaType = response.headers().contentType().map(MediaType::toString)
-							.orElse(XContentType.JSON.mediaType());
-					RestStatus status = RestStatus.fromCode(response.statusCode().value());
-					try {
-						ElasticsearchException exception = getElasticsearchException(response, content, mediaType);
-						if (exception != null) {
-							StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-							buildExceptionMessages(sb, exception);
-							return Mono.error(new ElasticsearchStatusException(sb.toString(), status, exception));
-						}
-					} catch (Exception e) {
-						return Mono.error(new ElasticsearchStatusException(content, status));
-					}
-					return Mono.just(content);
-				}).doOnNext(it -> ClientLogger.logResponse(logId, response.statusCode(), it)) //
+				.flatMap(content -> contentOrError(content, mediaType, status)) //
+				.doOnNext(content -> ClientLogger.logResponse(logId, response.statusCode(), content)) //
 				.flatMap(content -> doDecode(response, responseType, content));
 	}
 
 	// region ElasticsearchException helper
+	/**
+	 * checks if the given content body contains an {@link ElasticsearchException}, if yes it is returned in a Mono.error.
+	 * Otherwise the content is returned in the Mono
+	 * 
+	 * @param content the content to analyze
+	 * @param mediaType the returned media type
+	 * @param status the response status
+	 * @return a Mono with the content or an Mono.error
+	 */
+	private static Mono<String> contentOrError(String content, String mediaType, RestStatus status) {
+
+		ElasticsearchException exception = getElasticsearchException(content, mediaType, status);
+
+		if (exception != null) {
+			StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+			buildExceptionMessages(sb, exception);
+			return Mono.error(new ElasticsearchStatusException(sb.toString(), status, exception));
+		}
+
+		return Mono.just(content);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * tries to parse an {@link ElasticsearchException} from the given body content
+	 * 
+	 * @param content the content to analyse
+	 * @param mediaType the type of the body content
+	 * @return an {@link ElasticsearchException} or {@literal null}.
+	 */
 	@Nullable
-	private ElasticsearchException getElasticsearchException(ClientResponse response, String content, String mediaType)
-			throws IOException {
+	private static ElasticsearchException getElasticsearchException(String content, String mediaType, RestStatus status) {
 
-		XContentParser parser = createParser(mediaType, content);
-		// we have a JSON object with an error and a status field
-		XContentParser.Token token = parser.nextToken(); // Skip START_OBJECT
+		try {
+			XContentParser parser = createParser(mediaType, content);
+			// we have a JSON object with an error and a status field
+			XContentParser.Token token = parser.nextToken(); // Skip START_OBJECT
 
-		do {
-			token = parser.nextToken();
+			do {
+				token = parser.nextToken();
 
-			if (parser.currentName().equals("error")) {
-				return ElasticsearchException.failureFromXContent(parser);
-			}
-		} while (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME);
-		return null;
+				if (parser.currentName().equals("error")) {
+					return ElasticsearchException.failureFromXContent(parser);
+				}
+			} while (token == XContentParser.Token.FIELD_NAME);
+
+			return null;
+		} catch (IOException e) {
+			return new ElasticsearchStatusException(content, status);
+		}
 	}
 
 	private static void buildExceptionMessages(StringBuilder sb, Throwable t) {