diff --git a/discord/errors.py b/discord/errors.py
index 3569aae03..62fff0b23 100644
--- a/discord/errors.py
+++ b/discord/errors.py
@@ -54,10 +54,15 @@ class HTTPException(DiscordException):
         instance of `aiohttp.ClientResponse`__.
 
         __ http://aiohttp.readthedocs.org/en/stable/client_reference.html#aiohttp.ClientResponse
+
+    .. attribute:: text
+
+        The text of the response if it wasn't JSON. Could be None.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, response, message=None):
+    def __init__(self, response, message=None, text=None):
         self.response = response
+        self.text = text
 
         fmt = '{0.reason} (status code: {0.status})'
         if message:
diff --git a/discord/utils.py b/discord/utils.py
index 6ad988825..dc8c941d0 100644
--- a/discord/utils.py
+++ b/discord/utils.py
@@ -172,13 +172,19 @@ def _verify_successful_response(response):
     code = response.status
     success = code >= 200 and code < 300
     if not success:
-        data = yield from response.json()
-        message = data.get('message')
+        message = None
+        text = None
+        if response.headers['content-type'] == 'application/json':
+            data = yield from response.json()
+            message = data.get('message')
+        else:
+            text = yield from response.text()
+
         if code == 403:
-            raise Forbidden(response, message)
+            raise Forbidden(response, message, text)
         elif code == 404:
-            raise NotFound(response, message)
-        raise HTTPException(response, message)
+            raise NotFound(response, message, text)
+        raise HTTPException(response, message, text)
 
 def _get_mime_type_for_image(data):
     if data.startswith(b'\x89\x50\x4E\x47\x0D\x0A\x1A\x0A'):