diff --git a/src/Servant/JS/Internal.hs b/src/Servant/JS/Internal.hs
index 91e8e8c..451fc5e 100644
--- a/src/Servant/JS/Internal.hs
+++ b/src/Servant/JS/Internal.hs
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ data CommonGeneratorOptions = CommonGeneratorOptions
     -- ^ namespace on which we define the foreign function (empty mean local var)
   , urlPrefix :: Text
     -- ^ a prefix we should add to the Url in the codegen
+  , ignoreErrorParsingErrors :: Bool
+    -- ^ if a JSON request receives a non-JSON error response, report the plain text original error instead of a JSON parsing error 
   }
 
 -- | Default options.
@@ -92,6 +94,7 @@ data CommonGeneratorOptions = CommonGeneratorOptions
 -- >   , errorCallback = "onError"
 -- >   , moduleName = ""
 -- >   , urlPrefix = ""
+-- >   , ignoreErrorParsingErrors = False
 -- >   }
 -- @
 defCommonGeneratorOptions :: CommonGeneratorOptions
@@ -103,6 +106,7 @@ defCommonGeneratorOptions = CommonGeneratorOptions
   , errorCallback = "onError"
   , moduleName = ""
   , urlPrefix = ""
+  , ignoreErrorParsingErrors  = False
   }
 
 -- | Attempts to reduce the function name provided to that allowed by @'Foreign'@.
diff --git a/src/Servant/JS/Vanilla.hs b/src/Servant/JS/Vanilla.hs
index 72e6df0..b9eb073 100644
--- a/src/Servant/JS/Vanilla.hs
+++ b/src/Servant/JS/Vanilla.hs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ generateVanillaJSWith opts req = "\n" <>
  <> "  xhr.open('" <> decodeUtf8 method <> "', " <> url <> ", true);\n"
  <>    reqheaders
  <> "  xhr.setRequestHeader('Accept', 'application/json');\n"
- <> (if isJust (req ^. reqBody) && (req ^. reqBodyContentType == ReqBodyJSON)  then "  xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');\n" else "")
+ <> (if isJust (req ^. reqBody) && (req ^. _reqBodyContentType == ReqBodyJSON)  then "  xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');\n" else "")
  <> "  xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {\n"
  <> "    var res = null;\n"
  <> "    if (xhr.readyState === 4) {\n"
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ generateVanillaJSWith opts req = "\n" <>
  <> "        try { res = JSON.parse(xhr.responseText); } catch (e) { " <> onError <> "(e); }\n"
  <> "        if (res) " <> onSuccess <> "(res);\n"
  <> "      } else {\n"
- <> "        try { res = JSON.parse(xhr.responseText); } catch (e) { " <> onError <> "(e); }\n"
+ <> "        try { res = JSON.parse(xhr.responseText); } catch (e) { " <> onError <> "(" <>
+                (if ignoreErrorParsingErrors opts then "xhr.responseText" else "e") <> "); }\n"
  <> "        if (res) " <> onError <> "(res);\n"
  <> "      }\n"
  <> "    }\n"
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ generateVanillaJSWith opts req = "\n" <>
 
         dataBody =
           if isJust (req ^. reqBody)
-            then if (req ^. reqBodyContentType == ReqBodyJSON) then "JSON.stringify(body)" else "body"
+            then if (req ^. _reqBodyContentType == ReqBodyJSON) then "JSON.stringify(body)" else "body"
             else "null"