diff --git a/lib/httparty/request.rb b/lib/httparty/request.rb
index 8ae0878..b2a7bfd 100644
--- a/lib/httparty/request.rb
+++ b/lib/httparty/request.rb
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ module HTTParty
     def perform(&block)
       validate
       setup_raw_request
+      chunked_body = nil
 
       self.last_response = http.request(@raw_request) do |http_response|
         if block
@@ -80,12 +81,12 @@ module HTTParty
             block.call(fragment)
           end
 
-          http_response.body = chunks.join
+          chunked_body = chunks.join
         end
       end
 
       handle_deflation
-      handle_response
+      handle_response(chunked_body)
     end
 
     private
@@ -196,7 +197,7 @@ module HTTParty
       query_string_parts.size > 0 ? query_string_parts.join('&') : nil
     end
 
-    def handle_response
+    def handle_response(body)
       if response_redirects?
         options[:limit] -= 1
         self.path = last_response['location']
@@ -205,7 +206,8 @@ module HTTParty
         capture_cookies(last_response)
         perform
       else
-        Response.new(self, last_response, parse_response(last_response.body))
+        body = body || last_response.body
+        Response.new(self, last_response, parse_response(body), :body => body)
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/httparty/response.rb b/lib/httparty/response.rb
index a73113b..d090a1d 100644
--- a/lib/httparty/response.rb
+++ b/lib/httparty/response.rb
@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@ module HTTParty
 
     attr_reader :request, :response, :parsed_response, :body, :headers
 
-    def initialize(request, response, parsed_response)
-      @request = request
-      @response = response
-      @body = response.body
+    def initialize(request, response, parsed_response, options={})
+      @request         = request
+      @response        = response
+      @body            = response.body || options[:body]
       @parsed_response = parsed_response
-      @headers = Headers.new(response.to_hash)
+      @headers         = Headers.new(response.to_hash)
     end
 
     def class