diff --git a/webapp-django/crashstats/api/views.py b/webapp-django/crashstats/api/views.py
index b9c31242d0..a3e292aa6c 100644
--- a/webapp-django/crashstats/api/views.py
+++ b/webapp-django/crashstats/api/views.py
@@ -267,7 +267,12 @@ def model_wrapper(request, model_name):
                 )
             raise
         except ValueError as e:
-            if 'No JSON object could be decoded' in e:
+            if (
+                # built in json module ValueError
+                'No JSON object could be decoded' in e or
+                # ujson module ValueError
+                'Expected object or value' in e
+            ):
                 return http.HttpResponse(
                     'Not a valid JSON response',
                     status=400
diff --git a/webapp-django/crashstats/crashstats/models.py b/webapp-django/crashstats/crashstats/models.py
index dc0da4148c..24bb2cc4ff 100644
--- a/webapp-django/crashstats/crashstats/models.py
+++ b/webapp-django/crashstats/crashstats/models.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 import stat
 import time
 
+import ujson
+
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.cache import cache
 from django.utils.encoding import iri_to_uri
@@ -264,7 +266,7 @@ def fetch(
 
         result = resp.content
         if expect_json:
-            result = json.loads(result)
+            result = ujson.loads(result)
 
         if cache_key:
             cache.set(cache_key, result, self.cache_seconds)