diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestResponse.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestResponse.java
index fd6df250f9e..8144aed97a3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestResponse.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/client/RestResponse.java
@@ -44,7 +44,21 @@ public class RestResponse {
         return response.getReasonPhrase();
     }
 
-    public String getBody() {
+    /**
+     * Returns the body properly parsed depending on the content type.
+     * Might be a string or a json object parsed as a map.
+     */
+    public Object getBody() throws IOException {
+        if (isJson()) {
+            return parsedResponse().evaluate("");
+        }
+        return response.getBody();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the body as a string
+     */
+    public String getBodyAsString() {
         return response.getBody();
     }
 
@@ -76,6 +90,11 @@ public class RestResponse {
         return jsonPath.evaluate(path);
     }
 
+    private boolean isJson() {
+        String contentType = response.getHeaders().get("Content-Type");
+        return contentType != null && contentType.contains("application/json");
+    }
+
     private JsonPath parsedResponse() throws IOException {
         if (parsedResponse != null) {
             return parsedResponse;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/section/DoSection.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/section/DoSection.java
index 55902ffdc56..cf15029a9df 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/section/DoSection.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/section/DoSection.java
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ public class DoSection implements ExecutableSection {
 
     private String formatStatusCodeMessage(RestResponse restResponse, String expected) {
         return "expected [" + expected + "] status code but api [" + apiCallSection.getApi() + "] returned ["
-                + restResponse.getStatusCode() + " " + restResponse.getReasonPhrase() + "] [" + restResponse.getBody() + "]";
+                + restResponse.getStatusCode() + " " + restResponse.getReasonPhrase() + "] [" + restResponse.getBodyAsString() + "]";
     }
 
     private static Map<String, Tuple<String, org.hamcrest.Matcher<Integer>>> catches = Maps.newHashMap();