diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/EncodeException.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/EncodeException.java
index d399eb857a0..127019ad662 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/EncodeException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/EncodeException.java
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ public EncodeException(String message) {
     super(message);
   }
 
+  public EncodeException(String message, Throwable cause) {
+    super(message, cause);
+  }
+
   public EncodeException() {
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/Json.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/Json.java
index 4def03169e5..c18bd109567 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/Json.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/json/Json.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.*;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufInputStream;
@@ -101,8 +102,15 @@ public static String encodePrettily(Object obj) throws EncodeException {
   public static <T> T decodeValue(String str, Class<T> clazz) throws DecodeException {
     try {
       return mapper.readValue(str, clazz);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      throw new DecodeException("Failed to decode:" + e.getMessage());
     }
-    catch (Exception e) {
+  }
+
+  public static <T> T decodeValue(String str, TypeReference<T> type) throws DecodeException {
+    try {
+      return mapper.readValue(str, type);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
       throw new DecodeException("Failed to decode:" + e.getMessage(), e);
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/vertx/test/core/JsonMapperTest.java b/src/test/java/io/vertx/test/core/JsonMapperTest.java
index 8d0fc588c48..ff353383096 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/vertx/test/core/JsonMapperTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/vertx/test/core/JsonMapperTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 package io.vertx.test.core;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer;
 import io.vertx.core.json.Json;
@@ -25,6 +27,10 @@
 
 import static java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.ISO_INSTANT;
 
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
 /**
  * @author <a href="http://tfox.org">Tim Fox</a>
  */
@@ -93,4 +99,26 @@ public void encodeToBuffer() {
     // json strings are always UTF8
     assertEquals("\"Hello World!\"", json.toString("UTF-8"));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGenericDecoding() {
+    Pojo original = new Pojo();
+    original.value = "test";
+
+    String json = Json.encode(Collections.singletonList(original));
+
+    List<Pojo> correct = Json.decodeValue(json, new TypeReference<List<Pojo>>() {});
+    assertTrue(((List)correct).get(0) instanceof Pojo);
+    assertEquals(original.value, correct.get(0).value);
+
+    List incorrect = Json.decodeValue(json, List.class);
+    assertFalse(incorrect.get(0) instanceof Pojo);
+    assertTrue(incorrect.get(0) instanceof Map);
+    assertEquals(original.value, ((Map)(incorrect.get(0))).get("value"));
+  }
+
+  private static class Pojo {
+    @JsonProperty
+    String value;
+  }
 }