diff --git a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/20_headers.yaml b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/20_headers.yaml
index b814856144b..16260151a31 100644
--- a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/20_headers.yaml
+++ b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/20_headers.yaml
@@ -17,12 +17,8 @@
       headers:
         Accept: application/yaml
 
-  - match:
-      $body: |
-        /^---\n
-          -\s+alias:\s+"test_alias"\s+
-              index:\s+"test"\s+
-              filter:\s+"-"\s+
-              routing.index:\s+"-"\s+
-              routing.search:\s+"-"\s+$/
-
+  - match: {0.alias: test_alias}
+  - match: {0.index: test}
+  - match: {0.filter: "-"}
+  - match: {0.routing\.index: "-"}
+  - match: {0.routing\.search: "-"}
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/30_yaml.yaml b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/30_yaml.yaml
index c892891f08f..99b015f794b 100644
--- a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/30_yaml.yaml
+++ b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/cat.aliases/30_yaml.yaml
@@ -17,13 +17,8 @@
       cat.aliases:
         format: yaml
 
-  - match:
-      $body: |
-        /^---\n
-          -\s+alias:\s+"test_alias"\s+
-              index:\s+"test"\s+
-              filter:\s+"-"\s+
-              routing.index:\s+"-"\s+
-              routing.search:\s+"-"\s+$/
-
-
+  - match: {0.alias: test_alias}
+  - match: {0.index: test}
+  - match: {0.filter: "-"}
+  - match: {0.routing\.index: "-"}
+  - match: {0.routing\.search: "-"}
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/get/50_with_headers.yaml b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/get/50_with_headers.yaml
index 1bb031f0878..ed9a5b7c99f 100644
--- a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/get/50_with_headers.yaml
+++ b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/get/50_with_headers.yaml
@@ -18,13 +18,9 @@
         type: _all
         id:   1
 
-  - match:
-      $body: |
-        /^---\n
-          _index:\s+\"test_1"\n
-          _type:\s+"test"\n
-          _id:\s+"1"\n
-          _version:\s+1\n
-          found:\s+true\n
-          _source:\n
-          \s+body:\s+"foo"\n$/
+  - match: {_index: "test_1"}
+  - match: {_type: "test"}
+  - match: {_id: "1"}
+  - match: {_version: 1}
+  - match: {found: true}
+  - match: { _source: { body: foo }}
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestTestResponse.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestTestResponse.java
index c2d7e141b44..4644b87b8e7 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestTestResponse.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestTestResponse.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class RestTestResponse {
             String contentType = response.getHeader("Content-Type");
             XContentType xContentType = XContentType.fromMediaTypeOrFormat(contentType);
             //skip parsing if we got text back (e.g. if we called _cat apis)
-            if (xContentType == XContentType.JSON) {
+            if (xContentType == XContentType.JSON || xContentType == XContentType.YAML) {
                 this.parsedResponse = ObjectPath.createFromXContent(xContentType.xContent(), body);
             }
         }