diff --git a/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2.go b/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2.go
index 012947c63f..4813780806 100644
--- a/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2.go
+++ b/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2.go
@@ -149,14 +149,14 @@ func handleBuild(inputArchive, host string) (*osbuild.Result, error) {
 
 	var osbuildResult osbuild.Result
 
-	err = json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&osbuildResult)
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to decode response body into osbuild result: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to read response body: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	_, err = io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &osbuildResult)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to wait for executor to close connection: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to decode response body %q into osbuild result: %w", body, err)
 	}
 
 	return &osbuildResult, nil
diff --git a/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2_test.go b/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2_test.go
index ed36d6b893..140de6ad4e 100644
--- a/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2_test.go
+++ b/internal/osbuildexecutor/runner-impl-aws-ec2_test.go
@@ -91,6 +91,24 @@ func TestHandleBuild(t *testing.T) {
 	require.True(t, osbuildResult.Success)
 }
 
+func TestHandleBuildNoJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	buildServer := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		_, err := io.ReadAll(r.Body)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusCreated)
+		_, err = w.Write([]byte("bad non-json text"))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	}))
+
+	cacheDir := t.TempDir()
+	inputArchive := filepath.Join(cacheDir, "test.tar")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(inputArchive, []byte("test"), 0600))
+
+	_, err := osbuildexecutor.HandleBuild(inputArchive, buildServer.URL)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, `Unable to decode response body "bad non-json text" into osbuild result:`)
+}
+
 func TestHandleOutputArchive(t *testing.T) {
 	serverDir := t.TempDir()
 	serverOutputDir := filepath.Join(serverDir, "output")