diff --git a/json/src/main/java/feign/json/JsonDecoder.java b/json/src/main/java/feign/json/JsonDecoder.java
index 7b0799a1f..53f90f531 100644
--- a/json/src/main/java/feign/json/JsonDecoder.java
+++ b/json/src/main/java/feign/json/JsonDecoder.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import static java.lang.String.format;
 
 import feign.Response;
+import feign.Util;
 import feign.codec.DecodeException;
 import feign.codec.Decoder;
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ public Object decode(Response response, Type type) throws IOException, DecodeExc
     if (response.status() == 404 || response.status() == 204)
       if (JSONObject.class.isAssignableFrom((Class<?>) type)) return new JSONObject();
       else if (JSONArray.class.isAssignableFrom((Class<?>) type)) return new JSONArray();
+      else if (String.class.equals(type)) return null;
       else
         throw new DecodeException(
             response.status(),
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ public Object decode(Response response, Type type) throws IOException, DecodeExc
         return null; // Empty body
       }
       bodyReader.reset();
-      return decodeJSON(response, type, bodyReader);
+      return decodeBody(response, type, bodyReader);
     } catch (JSONException jsonException) {
       if (jsonException.getCause() != null && jsonException.getCause() instanceof IOException) {
         throw (IOException) jsonException.getCause();
@@ -79,7 +81,8 @@ public Object decode(Response response, Type type) throws IOException, DecodeExc
     }
   }
 
-  private Object decodeJSON(Response response, Type type, Reader reader) {
+  private Object decodeBody(Response response, Type type, Reader reader) throws IOException {
+    if (String.class.equals(type)) return Util.toString(reader);
     JSONTokener tokenizer = new JSONTokener(reader);
     if (JSONObject.class.isAssignableFrom((Class<?>) type)) return new JSONObject(tokenizer);
     else if (JSONArray.class.isAssignableFrom((Class<?>) type)) return new JSONArray(tokenizer);
diff --git a/json/src/test/java/feign/json/JsonDecoderTest.java b/json/src/test/java/feign/json/JsonDecoderTest.java
index 22328bde9..693c9811e 100644
--- a/json/src/test/java/feign/json/JsonDecoderTest.java
+++ b/json/src/test/java/feign/json/JsonDecoderTest.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 import static feign.Util.UTF_8;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
@@ -86,6 +87,20 @@ public void decodesObject() throws IOException {
     assertTrue(jsonObject.similar(new JsonDecoder().decode(response, JSONObject.class)));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void decodesString() throws IOException {
+    String json = "qwerty";
+    Response response =
+        Response.builder()
+            .status(200)
+            .reason("OK")
+            .headers(Collections.emptyMap())
+            .body(json, UTF_8)
+            .request(request)
+            .build();
+    assertEquals("qwerty", new JsonDecoder().decode(response, String.class));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void notFoundDecodesToEmpty() throws IOException {
     Response response =
@@ -110,6 +125,18 @@ public void nullBodyDecodesToEmpty() throws IOException {
     assertTrue(((JSONObject) new JsonDecoder().decode(response, JSONObject.class)).isEmpty());
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void nullBodyDecodesToNullString() throws IOException {
+    Response response =
+        Response.builder()
+            .status(204)
+            .reason("OK")
+            .headers(Collections.emptyMap())
+            .request(request)
+            .build();
+    assertNull(new JsonDecoder().decode(response, String.class));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void emptyBodyDecodesToEmpty() throws IOException {
     Response response =