diff --git a/ethers-providers/src/transports/http.rs b/ethers-providers/src/transports/http.rs
index 242126d8..533ee2c4 100644
--- a/ethers-providers/src/transports/http.rs
+++ b/ethers-providers/src/transports/http.rs
@@ -72,19 +72,24 @@ impl JsonRpcClient for Provider {
         let payload = Request::new(next_id, method, params);
 
         let res = self.client.post(self.url.as_ref()).json(&payload).send().await?;
-        let text = res.text().await?;
+        let body = res.bytes().await?;
 
-        let raw = match serde_json::from_str(&text) {
+        let raw = match serde_json::from_slice(&body) {
             Ok(Response::Success { result, .. }) => result.to_owned(),
             Ok(Response::Error { error, .. }) => return Err(error.into()),
             Ok(_) => {
                 let err = ClientError::SerdeJson {
                     err: serde::de::Error::custom("unexpected notification over HTTP transport"),
-                    text,
+                    text: String::from_utf8_lossy(&body).to_string(),
                 };
                 return Err(err)
             }
-            Err(err) => return Err(ClientError::SerdeJson { err, text }),
+            Err(err) => {
+                return Err(ClientError::SerdeJson {
+                    err,
+                    text: String::from_utf8_lossy(&body).to_string(),
+                })
+            }
         };
 
         let res = serde_json::from_str(raw.get())