diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c3629e64..34977ee7d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 node_modules
+.idea
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/request.js b/request.js
index 8365ab62a..ee8b411b7 100644
--- a/request.js
+++ b/request.js
@@ -1481,7 +1481,7 @@ Request.prototype.json = function (val) {
 
   self._json = true
   if (typeof val === 'boolean') {
-    if (typeof self.body === 'object') {
+    if (self.body !== undefined) {
       self.body = safeStringify(self.body)
       if (!self.hasHeader('content-type')) {
         self.setHeader('content-type', 'application/json')
diff --git a/tests/test-json-request.js b/tests/test-json-request.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bc4ef2f79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-json-request.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+'use strict'
+
+var server = require('./server')
+  , stream = require('stream')
+  , request = require('../index')
+  , tape = require('tape')
+
+var s = server.createServer()
+
+tape('setup', function(t) {
+  s.listen(s.port, function() {
+    t.end()
+  })
+})
+
+tape('test testPutBoolean', function(t) {
+  s.on('/testPutBoolean', server.createPostValidator('true', 'application/json'))
+  var opts = {
+    method: 'PUT',
+    uri: s.url + '/testPutBoolean',
+    json: true,
+    body: true
+  }
+  request(opts, function (err, resp, body) {
+    t.equal(err, null)
+    t.end()
+  })
+})
+
+tape('cleanup', function(t) {
+  s.close()
+  t.end()
+})