diff --git a/packages/thrift-client/src/main/connections/HttpConnection.ts b/packages/thrift-client/src/main/connections/HttpConnection.ts
index 62284a48..f917ea91 100644
--- a/packages/thrift-client/src/main/connections/HttpConnection.ts
+++ b/packages/thrift-client/src/main/connections/HttpConnection.ts
@@ -207,14 +207,20 @@ export class HttpConnection extends ThriftConnection<RequestOptions> {
           if (shouldRetry(response, retry, this.withEndpointPerMethod)) {
             resolve(this.write(dataToWrite, methodName, options, true))
           } else if (isErrorResponse(response)) {
-            reject(
-              new ThriftRequestError(
-                `Thrift request failed: HTTP ${response.status} ${
-                  response.statusText
-                }: ${response.text()}`,
-                response
+            const baseMessage = `Thrift request failed: HTTP ${response.status} ${response.statusText}`
+            response
+              .text()
+              .then(responseText =>
+                reject(new ThriftRequestError(`${baseMessage}: ${responseText}`, response))
               )
-            )
+              .catch(reason => {
+                reject(
+                  new ThriftRequestError(
+                    `${baseMessage} and the response body could not be read: ${reason}`,
+                    response
+                  )
+                )
+              })
           } else {
             response.arrayBuffer().then(arrayBuffer =>
               resolve({