diff --git a/dist-tools/test/helpers.coffee b/dist-tools/test/helpers.coffee
index 486103f4b4..1b7ec20814 100644
--- a/dist-tools/test/helpers.coffee
+++ b/dist-tools/test/helpers.coffee
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ fs = require('fs')
 evalCode = (code, preamble) ->
   eval """
     (function() {
-      var window = GLOBAL;
+      var window = global;
       #{preamble};
       return #{code};
     })();
diff --git a/lib/event_listeners.js b/lib/event_listeners.js
index 8e1cdefd1c..0cd1563b33 100644
--- a/lib/event_listeners.js
+++ b/lib/event_listeners.js
@@ -206,8 +206,11 @@ AWS.EventListeners = {
       function callback(httpResp) {
         resp.httpResponse.stream = httpResp;
 
-        httpResp.on('headers', function onHeaders(statusCode, headers) {
-          resp.request.emit('httpHeaders', [statusCode, headers, resp]);
+        httpResp.on('headers', function onHeaders(statusCode, headers, statusMessage) {
+          resp.request.emit(
+            'httpHeaders',
+            [statusCode, headers, resp, statusMessage]
+          );
 
           if (!resp.httpResponse.streaming) {
             if (AWS.HttpClient.streamsApiVersion === 2) { // streams2 API check
@@ -277,8 +280,9 @@ AWS.EventListeners = {
     });
 
     add('HTTP_HEADERS', 'httpHeaders',
-        function HTTP_HEADERS(statusCode, headers, resp) {
+        function HTTP_HEADERS(statusCode, headers, resp, statusMessage) {
       resp.httpResponse.statusCode = statusCode;
+      resp.httpResponse.statusMessage = statusMessage;
       resp.httpResponse.headers = headers;
       resp.httpResponse.body = new AWS.util.Buffer('');
       resp.httpResponse.buffers = [];
diff --git a/lib/http/node.js b/lib/http/node.js
index 644f993e5a..fd4198839e 100644
--- a/lib/http/node.js
+++ b/lib/http/node.js
@@ -44,7 +44,12 @@ AWS.NodeHttpClient = AWS.util.inherit({
       if (cbAlreadyCalled) return; cbAlreadyCalled = true;
 
       callback(httpResp);
-      httpResp.emit('headers', httpResp.statusCode, httpResp.headers);
+      httpResp.emit(
+        'headers',
+        httpResp.statusCode,
+        httpResp.headers,
+        httpResp.statusMessage
+      );
     });
     httpRequest.stream = stream; // attach stream to httpRequest
 
diff --git a/lib/http/xhr.js b/lib/http/xhr.js
index c7ef1dec71..9878e2f709 100644
--- a/lib/http/xhr.js
+++ b/lib/http/xhr.js
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@ AWS.XHRClient = AWS.util.inherit({
         try { xhr.responseType = 'arraybuffer'; } catch (e) {}
         emitter.statusCode = xhr.status;
         emitter.headers = self.parseHeaders(xhr.getAllResponseHeaders());
-        emitter.emit('headers', emitter.statusCode, emitter.headers);
+        emitter.emit(
+          'headers',
+          emitter.statusCode,
+          emitter.headers,
+          xhr.statusText
+        );
         headersEmitted = true;
       }
       if (this.readyState === this.DONE) {
diff --git a/lib/http_response.d.ts b/lib/http_response.d.ts
index d7a4148ae8..a1346f3645 100644
--- a/lib/http_response.d.ts
+++ b/lib/http_response.d.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,12 @@ export class HttpResponse {
      * The HTTP status code of the response (e.g., 200, 404).
      */
     statusCode: number;
+    /**
+     * The HTTP status message of the response (e.g., 'Bad Request', 'Not Found')
+     */
+    statusMessage: string;
     /**
      * Whether this response is being streamed at a low-level.
      */
     streaming: boolean;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/lib/protocol/json.js b/lib/protocol/json.js
index b9c9d8c713..72c0dd56f2 100644
--- a/lib/protocol/json.js
+++ b/lib/protocol/json.js
@@ -26,14 +26,19 @@ function extractError(resp) {
   }
 
   if (httpResponse.body.length > 0) {
-    var e = JSON.parse(httpResponse.body.toString());
-    if (e.__type || e.code) {
-      error.code = (e.__type || e.code).split('#').pop();
-    }
-    if (error.code === 'RequestEntityTooLarge') {
-      error.message = 'Request body must be less than 1 MB';
-    } else {
-      error.message = (e.message || e.Message || null);
+    try {
+      var e = JSON.parse(httpResponse.body.toString());
+      if (e.__type || e.code) {
+        error.code = (e.__type || e.code).split('#').pop();
+      }
+      if (error.code === 'RequestEntityTooLarge') {
+        error.message = 'Request body must be less than 1 MB';
+      } else {
+        error.message = (e.message || e.Message || null);
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      error.statusCode = httpResponse.statusCode;
+      error.message = httpResponse.statusMessage;
     }
   } else {
     error.statusCode = httpResponse.statusCode;
diff --git a/lib/protocol/query.js b/lib/protocol/query.js
index 2e1adcbdb6..27e11ce122 100644
--- a/lib/protocol/query.js
+++ b/lib/protocol/query.js
@@ -30,7 +30,14 @@ function extractError(resp) {
       Message: 'Unknown operation ' + resp.request.operation
     };
   } else {
-    data = new AWS.XML.Parser().parse(body);
+    try {
+      data = new AWS.XML.Parser().parse(body);
+    } catch (e) {
+      data = {
+        Code: resp.httpResponse.statusCode,
+        Message: resp.httpResponse.statusMessage
+      };
+    }
   }
 
   if (data.requestId && !resp.requestId) resp.requestId = data.requestId;
diff --git a/lib/protocol/rest_xml.js b/lib/protocol/rest_xml.js
index ebfd1b6536..a0e2aeafa7 100644
--- a/lib/protocol/rest_xml.js
+++ b/lib/protocol/rest_xml.js
@@ -37,7 +37,16 @@ function buildRequest(req) {
 function extractError(resp) {
   Rest.extractError(resp);
 
-  var data = new AWS.XML.Parser().parse(resp.httpResponse.body.toString());
+  var data;
+  try {
+    data = new AWS.XML.Parser().parse(resp.httpResponse.body.toString());
+  } catch (e) {
+    data = {
+      Code: resp.httpResponse.statusCode,
+      Message: resp.httpResponse.statusMessage
+    };
+  }
+
   if (data.Errors) data = data.Errors;
   if (data.Error) data = data.Error;
   if (data.Code) {
diff --git a/lib/request.d.ts b/lib/request.d.ts
index 1fc2bfad62..ea3ded7264 100644
--- a/lib/request.d.ts
+++ b/lib/request.d.ts
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ export class Request<D, E> {
      * @param {string} event - httpHeaders: triggered when headers are sent by the remote server.
      * @param {function} listener - Callback to run when the headers are sent by the remote server.
      */
-    on(event: "httpHeaders", listener: (statusCode: number, headers: {[key: string]: string}, response: Response<D, E>) => void): Request<D, E>;
+    on(event: "httpHeaders", listener: (statusCode: number, headers: {[key: string]: string}, response: Response<D, E>, statusMessage: string) => void): Request<D, E>;
     /**
      * Adds a listener that is triggered when data is sent by the remote server.
      * 
@@ -176,4 +176,4 @@ export class Request<D, E> {
 export interface Progress {
     loaded: number;
     total: number;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/lib/request.js b/lib/request.js
index 0bc1bd753b..6b58fdec19 100644
--- a/lib/request.js
+++ b/lib/request.js
@@ -246,11 +246,13 @@ fsm.setupStates();
  *
  * @!group HTTP Events
  *
- * @!event httpHeaders(statusCode, headers, response)
+ * @!event httpHeaders(statusCode, headers, response, statusMessage)
  *   Triggered when headers are sent by the remote server
  *   @param statusCode [Integer] the HTTP response code
  *   @param headers [map<String,String>] the response headers
  *   @param (see AWS.Request~send)
+ *   @param statusMessage [String] A status message corresponding to the HTTP
+ *                                 response code
  *   @context (see AWS.Request~send)
  *
  * @!event httpData(chunk, response)
diff --git a/test/helpers.coffee b/test/helpers.coffee
index 978fa2e0d2..196cf8f7f9 100644
--- a/test/helpers.coffee
+++ b/test/helpers.coffee
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 AWS = null
-global = null
+topLevelScope = null
 ignoreRequire = require
 if typeof window == 'undefined'
   AWS = ignoreRequire('../lib/aws')
-  global = GLOBAL
+  topLevelScope = global
 else
   AWS = window.AWS
-  global = window
+  topLevelScope = window
 
-if global.jasmine
-  global.jasmine.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL = 30000
+if topLevelScope.jasmine
+  topLevelScope.jasmine.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL = 30000
 
 _it = it
-global.it = (label, fn) ->
+topLevelScope.it = (label, fn) ->
   if label.match(/\(no phantomjs\)/) and navigator and navigator.userAgent.match(/phantomjs/i)
     return
   _it(label, fn)
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ _spyOn = (obj, methodName) ->
 # Disable setTimeout for tests, but keep original in case test needs to use it
 # Warning: this might cause unpredictable results
 # TODO: refactor this out.
-global.setTimeoutOrig = global.setTimeout
-global.setTimeout = (fn) -> fn()
+topLevelScope.setTimeoutOrig = topLevelScope.setTimeout
+topLevelScope.setTimeout = (fn) -> fn()
 
-global.expect = require('chai').expect
+topLevelScope.expect = require('chai').expect
 
 matchXML = (xml1, xml2) ->
   results = []
diff --git a/test/protocol/json.spec.coffee b/test/protocol/json.spec.coffee
index 91f5b931d0..2b568ef6f2 100644
--- a/test/protocol/json.spec.coffee
+++ b/test/protocol/json.spec.coffee
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.Json', ->
   describe 'extractError', ->
     extractError = (body) ->
       response.httpResponse.statusCode = 500
+      response.httpResponse.statusMessage = 'Internal Server Error'
       response.httpResponse.body = new Buffer(body)
       svc.extractError(response)
 
@@ -102,6 +103,14 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.Json', ->
       expect(response.error.message).to.equal('500')
       expect(response.data).to.equal(null)
 
+    it 'returns the status code when the body is not valid JSON', ->
+      extractError '<html><body><b>Http/1.1 Service Unavailable</b></body> </html>'
+      expect(response.error ).to.be.instanceOf(Error)
+      expect(response.error.code).to.equal('UnknownError')
+      expect(response.error.statusCode).to.equal(500)
+      expect(response.error.message).to.equal('Internal Server Error')
+      expect(response.data).to.equal(null)
+
     it 'returns UnknownError when the error type is not set', ->
       extractError '{"message":"Error Message" }'
       expect(response.error ).to.be.instanceOf(Error)
@@ -171,4 +180,4 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.Json', ->
       extractData '{"i":1, "b": null}'
       expect(response.error).to.equal(null)
       expect(response.data.i).to.equal(1)
-      expect(response.data.b).to.equal(null)
\ No newline at end of file
+      expect(response.data.b).to.equal(null)
diff --git a/test/protocol/query.spec.coffee b/test/protocol/query.spec.coffee
index 3b02dd3198..d31aa94a4c 100644
--- a/test/protocol/query.spec.coffee
+++ b/test/protocol/query.spec.coffee
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.Query', ->
         </Error>
         """
       response.httpResponse.statusCode = 400
+      response.httpResponse.statusMessage = 'Bad Request'
       response.httpResponse.body = new Buffer(body)
       svc.extractError(response)
 
@@ -122,6 +123,12 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.Query', ->
       expect(response.error.message).to.equal(null)
       expect(response.data).to.equal(null)
 
+    it 'returns an empty error when the body cannot be parsed', ->
+      extractError JSON.stringify({"foo":"bar","fizz":["buzz", "pop"]})
+      expect(response.error.code).to.equal(400)
+      expect(response.error.message).to.equal('Bad Request')
+      expect(response.data).to.equal(null)
+
     it 'extracts error when inside <Errors>', ->
       extractError """
       <SomeResponse>
diff --git a/test/protocol/rest_xml.spec.coffee b/test/protocol/rest_xml.spec.coffee
index 9310c8a487..7f1044c228 100644
--- a/test/protocol/rest_xml.spec.coffee
+++ b/test/protocol/rest_xml.spec.coffee
@@ -217,6 +217,7 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.RestXml', ->
         </Error>
         """
       response.httpResponse.statusCode = 400
+      response.httpResponse.statusMessage = 'Bad Request'
       response.httpResponse.body = new Buffer(body)
       svc.extractError(response)
 
@@ -234,6 +235,13 @@ describe 'AWS.Protocol.RestXml', ->
       expect(response.error.message).to.equal(null)
       expect(response.data).to.equal(null)
 
+    it 'returns an empty error when the body cannot be parsed', ->
+      extractError JSON.stringify({"foo":"bar","fizz":["buzz", "pop"]})
+      expect(response.error ).to.be.instanceOf(Error)
+      expect(response.error.code).to.equal(400)
+      expect(response.error.message).to.equal('Bad Request')
+      expect(response.data).to.equal(null)
+
     it 'extracts error when inside <Errors>', ->
       extractError """
       <SomeResponse>
diff --git a/test/util.spec.coffee b/test/util.spec.coffee
index 011499dbb6..62d6c2e6b4 100644
--- a/test/util.spec.coffee
+++ b/test/util.spec.coffee
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ describe 'AWS.util.date', ->
   describe 'getDate', ->
     it 'should return current date by default', ->
       now = {}
-      obj = if AWS.util.isNode() then GLOBAL else window
+      obj = if AWS.util.isNode() then global else window
       helpers.spyOn(obj, 'Date').andCallFake -> now
       expect(util.getDate()).to.equal(now)
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ describe 'AWS.util.date', ->
 
       beforeEach ->
         [date, mocked, config] = [Date, false, AWS.config]
-        obj = if AWS.util.isNode() then GLOBAL else window
+        obj = if AWS.util.isNode() then global else window
         helpers.spyOn(obj, 'Date').andCallFake (t) ->
           if mocked
             new date(t)