diff --git a/servant-client.cabal b/servant-client.cabal
index b27e5bc2..a5576cbc 100644
--- a/servant-client.cabal
+++ b/servant-client.cabal
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ test-suite spec
     , deepseq
     , either
     , hspec == 2.*
+    , http-media
     , http-types
     , network >= 2.6
     , QuickCheck >= 2.7
diff --git a/src/Servant/Client.hs b/src/Servant/Client.hs
index 69a8d71d..88bdc249 100644
--- a/src/Servant/Client.hs
+++ b/src/Servant/Client.hs
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ instance (KnownSymbol sym, HasClient sublayout)
 -- | Pick a 'Method' and specify where the server you want to query is. You get
 -- back the status code and the response body as a 'ByteString'.
 instance HasClient Raw where
-  type Client Raw = H.Method -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString)
+  type Client Raw = H.Method -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString, MediaType)
 
   clientWithRoute :: Proxy Raw -> Req -> Client Raw
   clientWithRoute Proxy req httpMethod host =
diff --git a/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs b/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs
index 0e8cf1c6..13b12285 100644
--- a/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs
+++ b/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import Data.Aeson.Parser
 import Data.Aeson.Types
 import Data.Attoparsec.ByteString
 import Data.ByteString.Lazy hiding (pack)
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as BS
 import Data.String
 import Data.String.Conversions
 import Data.Text
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@ reqToRequest req (BaseUrl reqScheme reqHost reqPort) =
         setrqb r = case (reqBody req) of
                      Nothing -> r
                      Just (b,t) -> r { requestBody = RequestBodyLBS b
-                                     , requestHeaders = [(hContentType, BS.pack . show $ t)] }
+                                     , requestHeaders = [(hContentType, cs . show $ t)] }
         setQS = setQueryString $ queryTextToQuery (qs req)
         setheaders r = r { requestHeaders = requestHeaders r
                                          ++ Prelude.map toProperHeader (headers req) }
@@ -110,7 +109,7 @@ displayHttpRequest :: Method -> String
 displayHttpRequest httpmethod = "HTTP " ++ cs httpmethod ++ " request"
 
 
-performRequest :: Method -> Req -> (Int -> Bool) -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString)
+performRequest :: Method -> Req -> (Int -> Bool) -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString, MediaType)
 performRequest reqMethod req isWantedStatus reqHost = do
   partialRequest <- liftIO $ reqToRequest req reqHost
 
@@ -129,7 +128,12 @@ performRequest reqMethod req isWantedStatus reqHost = do
       let status = Client.responseStatus response
       unless (isWantedStatus (statusCode status)) $
         left (displayHttpRequest reqMethod ++ " failed with status: " ++ showStatus status)
-      return $ (statusCode status, Client.responseBody response)
+      ct <- case lookup "Content-Type" $ Client.responseHeaders response of
+                 Nothing -> pure $ "application"//"octet-stream"
+                 Just t -> case parseAccept t of
+                   Nothing -> left $ "invalid Content-Type header: " <> cs t
+                   Just t' -> pure t'
+      return $ (statusCode status, Client.responseBody response, ct)
   where
     showStatus (Status code message) =
       show code ++ " - " ++ cs message
@@ -138,7 +142,7 @@ performRequest reqMethod req isWantedStatus reqHost = do
 performRequestJSON :: FromJSON result =>
   Method -> Req -> Int -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO result
 performRequestJSON reqMethod req wantedStatus reqHost = do
-  (_status, respBody) <- performRequest reqMethod req (== wantedStatus) reqHost
+  (_status, respBody, _) <- performRequest reqMethod req (== wantedStatus) reqHost
   either
     (\ message -> left (displayHttpRequest reqMethod ++ " returned invalid json: " ++ message))
     return
diff --git a/test/Servant/ClientSpec.hs b/test/Servant/ClientSpec.hs
index 429a2fe4..70919bdf 100644
--- a/test/Servant/ClientSpec.hs
+++ b/test/Servant/ClientSpec.hs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import Data.Foldable (forM_)
 import Data.Proxy
 import Data.Typeable
 import GHC.Generics
+import Network.HTTP.Media
 import Network.HTTP.Types
 import Network.Socket
 import Network.Wai
@@ -101,8 +102,8 @@ getQueryFlag :: Bool -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO Bool
 getMatrixParam :: Maybe String -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO Person
 getMatrixParams :: [String] -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO [Person]
 getMatrixFlag :: Bool -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO Bool
-getRawSuccess :: Method -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString)
-getRawFailure :: Method -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString)
+getRawSuccess :: Method -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString, MediaType)
+getRawFailure :: Method -> BaseUrl -> EitherT String IO (Int, ByteString, MediaType)
 getMultiple :: String -> Maybe Int -> Bool -> [(String, [Rational])]
   -> BaseUrl
   -> EitherT String IO (String, Maybe Int, Bool, [(String, [Rational])])
@@ -167,10 +168,10 @@ spec = do
       runEitherT (getMatrixFlag flag host) `shouldReturn` Right flag
 
   it "Servant.API.Raw on success" $ withServer $ \ host -> do
-    runEitherT (getRawSuccess methodGet host) `shouldReturn` Right (200, "rawSuccess")
+    runEitherT (getRawSuccess methodGet host) `shouldReturn` Right (200, "rawSuccess", "application"//"octet-stream")
 
   it "Servant.API.Raw on failure" $ withServer $ \ host -> do
-    runEitherT (getRawFailure methodGet host) `shouldReturn` Right (400, "rawFailure")
+    runEitherT (getRawFailure methodGet host) `shouldReturn` Right (400, "rawFailure", "application"//"octet-stream")
 
   modifyMaxSuccess (const 20) $ do
     it "works for a combination of Capture, QueryParam, QueryFlag and ReqBody" $