diff --git a/lib/neography/connection.rb b/lib/neography/connection.rb
index 710e5eb..088ea94 100644
--- a/lib/neography/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/neography/connection.rb
@@ -105,14 +105,14 @@ def evaluate_response(response)
     end
 
     def handle_4xx_500_response(code, body)
-      if body
-        parsed_body = JSON.parse(body)
-        message = parsed_body["message"]
-        stacktrace = parsed_body["stacktrace"]
-      else
+      if body.nil? or body == ""
         parsed_body = {}
         message = "No error message returned from server."
         stacktrace = ""
+      else
+        parsed_body = JSON.parse(body)
+        message = parsed_body["message"]
+        stacktrace = parsed_body["stacktrace"]
       end
 
       @logger.error "#{code} error: #{body}" if @log_enabled
diff --git a/spec/integration/rest_index_spec.rb b/spec/integration/rest_index_spec.rb
index 956b59a..6e70797 100644
--- a/spec/integration/rest_index_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/rest_index_spec.rb
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@
       @neo.add_node_to_index("test_node_index", key, value, new_node) 
       new_index = @neo.get_node_index("test_node_index", key, value) 
       new_index.should_not be_nil
-      expect { @neo.remove_node_from_index("test_node_index", key, "", new_node) }.to raise_error
+      expect { @neo.remove_node_from_index("test_node_index", key, "", new_node) }.to raise_error Neography::NeographyError
     end
   end