diff --git a/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/websocket/OpeningHandshake.java b/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/websocket/OpeningHandshake.java
index 63270bf5a5c..79397ad99d9 100644
--- a/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/websocket/OpeningHandshake.java
+++ b/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/websocket/OpeningHandshake.java
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ static URI createRequestURI(URI uri) {
 
     public CompletableFuture<Result> send() {
         PrivilegedAction<CompletableFuture<Result>> pa = () ->
-                client.sendAsync(this.request, BodyHandlers.discarding())
+                client.sendAsync(this.request, BodyHandlers.ofString())
                       .thenCompose(this::resultFrom);
         return AccessController.doPrivileged(pa);
     }
diff --git a/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/websocket/WSHandshakeExceptionTest.java b/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/websocket/WSHandshakeExceptionTest.java
index 8702a49549f..d25d6c8e5ea 100644
--- a/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/websocket/WSHandshakeExceptionTest.java
+++ b/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/websocket/WSHandshakeExceptionTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017, 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 /*
  * @test
+ * @bug 8240666
  * @summary Basic test for WebSocketHandshakeException
  * @library /test/lib
  * @build jdk.test.lib.net.SimpleSSLContext
@@ -55,7 +56,9 @@
 import static java.net.http.HttpClient.Builder.NO_PROXY;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.testng.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.testng.Assert.fail;
+import static java.lang.System.out;
 
 public class WSHandshakeExceptionTest {
 
@@ -107,6 +110,9 @@ public void test(String uri, boolean sameClient) {
                 }
                 WebSocketHandshakeException wse = (WebSocketHandshakeException) t;
                 assertNotNull(wse.getResponse());
+                out.println("Status code is " + wse.getResponse().statusCode());
+                out.println("Response is " + wse.getResponse().body());
+                assertTrue(((String)wse.getResponse().body()).contains("404"));
                 assertEquals(wse.getResponse().statusCode(), 404);
             }
         }