diff --git a/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/errorHandling.test.ts b/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/errorHandling.test.ts
index d4fccacf8..573c8550c 100644
--- a/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/errorHandling.test.ts
+++ b/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/errorHandling.test.ts
@@ -4,8 +4,12 @@ import { UserBannedError } from "@oakai/core/src/models/safetyViolations";
 import { TracingSpan } from "@oakai/core/src/tracing/serverTracing";
 import { RateLimitExceededError } from "@oakai/core/src/utils/rateLimiting/userBasedRateLimiter";
 import { PrismaClientWithAccelerate } from "@oakai/db";
+import invariant from "tiny-invariant";
 
-import { consumeStream } from "@/utils/testHelpers/consumeStream";
+import {
+  consumeStream,
+  extractStreamMessage,
+} from "@/utils/testHelpers/consumeStream";
 
 import { handleChatException } from "./errorHandling";
 
@@ -33,9 +37,9 @@ describe("handleChatException", () => {
 
       expect(response.status).toBe(200);
 
-      const message = JSON.parse(
-        await consumeStream(response.body as ReadableStream),
-      );
+      invariant(response.body instanceof ReadableStream);
+      const message = extractStreamMessage(await consumeStream(response.body));
+
       expect(message).toEqual({
         type: "error",
         value: "Threat detected",
@@ -83,9 +87,9 @@ describe("handleChatException", () => {
 
       expect(response.status).toBe(200);
 
-      const message = JSON.parse(
-        await consumeStream(response.body as ReadableStream),
-      );
+      const consumed = await consumeStream(response.body as ReadableStream);
+      const message = extractStreamMessage(consumed);
+
       expect(message).toEqual({
         type: "error",
         value: "Rate limit exceeded",
@@ -110,7 +114,7 @@ describe("handleChatException", () => {
 
       expect(response.status).toBe(200);
 
-      const message = JSON.parse(
+      const message = extractStreamMessage(
         await consumeStream(response.body as ReadableStream),
       );
       expect(message).toEqual({
@@ -119,4 +123,4 @@ describe("handleChatException", () => {
       });
     });
   });
-});
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/protocol.ts b/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/protocol.ts
index 6fd50d38d..322d43d6a 100644
--- a/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/protocol.ts
+++ b/apps/nextjs/src/app/api/chat/protocol.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ import {
 import { StreamingTextResponse } from "ai";
 
 export function streamingJSON(message: ErrorDocument | ActionDocument) {
-  const errorMessage = JSON.stringify(message);
+  const jsonContent = JSON.stringify(message);
+  const errorMessage = `0:"${jsonContent.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`;
+
   const errorEncoder = new TextEncoder();
 
   return new StreamingTextResponse(
diff --git a/apps/nextjs/src/utils/testHelpers/consumeStream.ts b/apps/nextjs/src/utils/testHelpers/consumeStream.ts
index 63e59122e..5e9ca8a62 100644
--- a/apps/nextjs/src/utils/testHelpers/consumeStream.ts
+++ b/apps/nextjs/src/utils/testHelpers/consumeStream.ts
@@ -12,3 +12,12 @@ export async function consumeStream(stream: ReadableStream): Promise<string> {
 
   return result;
 }
+
+export function extractStreamMessage(streamedText: string) {
+  const content = streamedText.match(/0:"(.*)"/);
+  if (!content?.[1]) {
+    throw new Error("No message found in streamed text");
+  }
+  const strippedContent = content[1].replace(/\\"/g, '"');
+  return JSON.parse(strippedContent);
+}