diff --git a/lib/http/errors.rb b/lib/http/errors.rb
index dcbe5a13..373fab49 100644
--- a/lib/http/errors.rb
+++ b/lib/http/errors.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ def initialize(response)
     end
   end
 
+  # Raised when `Response#parse` fails due to any underlying reason (unexpected
+  # MIME type, or decoder fails). See `Exception#cause` for the original exception.
+  class ParseError < ResponseError; end
+
+  # Requested MimeType adapter not found.
+  class UnsupportedMimeTypeError < Error; end
+
   # Generic Timeout error
   class TimeoutError < Error; end
 
diff --git a/lib/http/mime_type.rb b/lib/http/mime_type.rb
index d8776fd3..2890ab4d 100644
--- a/lib/http/mime_type.rb
+++ b/lib/http/mime_type.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+require "http/errors"
+
 module HTTP
   # MIME type encode/decode adapters
   module MimeType
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ def register_adapter(type, adapter)
       # @raise [Error] if no adapter found
       # @return [Class]
       def [](type)
-        adapters[normalize type] || raise(Error, "Unknown MIME type: #{type}")
+        adapters[normalize type] || raise(UnsupportedMimeTypeError, "Unknown MIME type: #{type}")
       end
 
       # Register a shortcut for MIME type
diff --git a/lib/http/response.rb b/lib/http/response.rb
index 58f14c30..6212b5a6 100644
--- a/lib/http/response.rb
+++ b/lib/http/response.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 require "forwardable"
 
+require "http/errors"
 require "http/headers"
 require "http/content_type"
 require "http/mime_type"
@@ -155,6 +156,8 @@ def chunked?
     # @return [Object]
     def parse(type = nil)
       MimeType[type || mime_type].decode to_s
+    rescue => e
+      raise ParseError, e.message
     end
 
     # Inspect a response
diff --git a/spec/lib/http/response_spec.rb b/spec/lib/http/response_spec.rb
index 322e25b3..fc4bbd7e 100644
--- a/spec/lib/http/response_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/http/response_spec.rb
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@
     context "with unknown content type" do
       let(:content_type) { "application/deadbeef" }
 
-      it "raises HTTP::Error" do
-        expect { response.parse }.to raise_error HTTP::Error
+      it "raises HTTP::ParseError" do
+        expect { response.parse }.to raise_error HTTP::ParseError
       end
     end
 
@@ -125,6 +125,15 @@
         expect(response.parse(:json)).to eq "foo" => "bar"
       end
     end
+
+    context "when underlying parser fails" do
+      let(:content_type) { "application/deadbeef" }
+      let(:body)         { "" }
+
+      it "raises HTTP::ParseError" do
+        expect { response.parse }.to raise_error HTTP::ParseError
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe "#flush" do