diff --git a/restless/serializers.py b/restless/serializers.py
index 89104ce..b372993 100644
--- a/restless/serializers.py
+++ b/restless/serializers.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from .exceptions import BadRequest
 from .utils import json, MoreTypesJSONEncoder
 
 
@@ -58,9 +59,12 @@ def deserialize(self, body):
         :returns: The deserialized data
         :rtype: ``list`` or ``dict``
         """
-        if isinstance(body, bytes):
-            return json.loads(body.decode('utf-8'))
-        return json.loads(body)
+        try:
+            if isinstance(body, bytes):
+                return json.loads(body.decode('utf-8'))
+            return json.loads(body)
+        except ValueError:
+            raise BadRequest('Request body is not valid JSON')
 
     def serialize(self, data):
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_serializers.py b/tests/test_serializers.py
index c765a35..2535376 100644
--- a/tests/test_serializers.py
+++ b/tests/test_serializers.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import unittest
 import uuid
 
+from restless.exceptions import BadRequest
 from restless.serializers import JSONSerializer
 
 
@@ -33,3 +34,7 @@ def test_deserialize(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.serializer.deserialize('{"more": "things"}'), {
             'more': 'things',
         })
+
+    def test_deserialize_invalid(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(BadRequest):
+            self.serializer.deserialize('not valid!')