diff --git a/docs/middleware/list.md b/docs/middleware/list.md
index 59d9ba2ae..88f4422cb 100644
--- a/docs/middleware/list.md
+++ b/docs/middleware/list.md
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ base64 representation.
 * [`Multipart`][multipart] converts a `Faraday::Request#body` hash of key/value pairs into a
 multipart form request.
 * [`UrlEncoded`][url_encoded] converts a `Faraday::Request#body` hash of key/value pairs into a url-encoded request body.
+* [`Json Request`][json-request] converts a `Faraday::Request#body` hash of key/value pairs into a JSON request body.
+* [`Json Response`][json-response] parses response body into a hash of key/value pairs.
 * [`Retry`][retry] automatically retries requests that fail due to intermittent client
 or server errors (such as network hiccups).
 * [`Instrumentation`][instrumentation] allows to instrument requests using different tools.
@@ -44,7 +46,9 @@ before returning it.
 [authentication]:       ./authentication
 [multipart]:            ./multipart
 [url_encoded]:          ./url-encoded
+[json-request]:         ./json-request
 [retry]:                ./retry
 [instrumentation]:      ./instrumentation
+[json-response]:         ./json-response
 [logger]:               ./logger
 [raise_error]:          ./raise-error
diff --git a/docs/middleware/request/authentication.md b/docs/middleware/request/authentication.md
index 867efa187..e15fd45fd 100644
--- a/docs/middleware/request/authentication.md
+++ b/docs/middleware/request/authentication.md
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ top_name: Back to Middleware
 top_link: ./list
 ---
 
-Basic and Token authentication are handled by Faraday::Request::BasicAuthentication
-and Faraday::Request::TokenAuthentication respectively.
+Basic and Token authentication are handled by `Faraday::Request::BasicAuthentication`
+and `Faraday::Request::TokenAuthentication` respectively.
 These can be added as middleware manually or through the helper methods.
 
 ### Basic Authentication
diff --git a/docs/middleware/request/instrumentation.md b/docs/middleware/request/instrumentation.md
index 33fcaae08..83adec6e6 100644
--- a/docs/middleware/request/instrumentation.md
+++ b/docs/middleware/request/instrumentation.md
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ permalink: /middleware/instrumentation
 hide: true
 prev_name: Retry Middleware
 prev_link: ./retry
-next_name: Logger Middleware
-next_link: ./logger
+next_name: JSON Response Middleware
+next_link: ./json-response
 top_name: Back to Middleware
 top_link: ./list
 ---
diff --git a/docs/middleware/request/json.md b/docs/middleware/request/json.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ba064ad9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/middleware/request/json.md
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+layout: documentation
+title: "JSON Request Middleware"
+permalink: /middleware/json-request
+hide: true
+prev_name: UrlEncoded Middleware
+prev_link: ./url-encoded
+next_name: Retry Middleware
+next_link: ./retry
+top_name: Back to Middleware
+top_link: ./list
+---
+
+The `JSON` request middleware converts a `Faraday::Request#body` hash of key/value pairs into a JSON request body.
+The middleware also automatically sets the `Content-Type` header to `application/json`,
+processes only requests with matching Content-Type or those without a type and
+doesn't try to encode bodies that already are in string form.
+
+### Example Usage
+
+```ruby
+conn = Faraday.new(...) do |f|
+  f.request :json
+  ...
+end
+
+conn.post('/', { a: 1, b: 2 })
+# POST with
+# Content-Type: application/json
+# Body: {"a":1,"b":2}
+```
diff --git a/docs/middleware/request/url_encoded.md b/docs/middleware/request/url_encoded.md
index 95cdf528c..c913e3865 100644
--- a/docs/middleware/request/url_encoded.md
+++ b/docs/middleware/request/url_encoded.md
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ permalink: /middleware/url-encoded
 hide: true
 prev_name: Multipart Middleware
 prev_link: ./multipart
-next_name: Retry Middleware
-next_link: ./retry
+next_name: JSON Request Middleware
+next_link: ./json-request
 top_name: Back to Middleware
 top_link: ./list
 ---
diff --git a/docs/middleware/response/json.md b/docs/middleware/response/json.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86e1560a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/middleware/response/json.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+---
+layout: documentation
+title: "JSON Response Middleware"
+permalink: /middleware/json-response
+hide: true
+prev_name: Instrumentation Middleware
+prev_link: ./instrumentation
+next_name: Logger Middleware
+next_link: ./logger
+top_name: Back to Middleware
+top_link: ./list
+---
+
+The `JSON` response middleware parses response body into a hash of key/value pairs.
+The behaviour can be customized with the following options:
+* **parser_options:** options that will be sent to the JSON.parse method. Defaults to {}.
+* **content_type:** Single value or Array of response content-types that should be processed. Can be either strings or Regex. Defaults to `/\bjson$/`.
+* **preserve_raw:** If set to true, the original un-parsed response will be stored in the `response.env[:raw_body]` property. Defaults to `false`.
+
+### Example Usage
+
+```ruby
+conn = Faraday.new('http://httpbingo.org') do |f|
+  f.response :json, **options
+end
+
+conn.get('json').body
+# => {"slideshow"=>{"author"=>"Yours Truly", "date"=>"date of publication", "slides"=>[{"title"=>"Wake up to WonderWidgets!", "type"=>"all"}, {"items"=>["Why <em>WonderWidgets</em> are great", "Who <em>buys</em> WonderWidgets"], "title"=>"Overview", "type"=>"all"}], "title"=>"Sample Slide Show"}}
+```
diff --git a/docs/middleware/response/logger.md b/docs/middleware/response/logger.md
index fdee39279..e728d51f1 100644
--- a/docs/middleware/response/logger.md
+++ b/docs/middleware/response/logger.md
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ layout: documentation
 title: "Logger Middleware"
 permalink: /middleware/logger
 hide: true
-prev_name: Instrumentation Middleware
-prev_link: ./instrumentation
+prev_name: JSON Response Middleware
+prev_link: ./json-response
 next_name: RaiseError Middleware
 next_link: ./raise-error
 top_name: Back to Middleware
diff --git a/lib/faraday.rb b/lib/faraday.rb
index 82efb050a..9eb7778e7 100644
--- a/lib/faraday.rb
+++ b/lib/faraday.rb
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 #   conn.get '/'
 #
 module Faraday
+  CONTENT_TYPE = 'Content-Type'
+
   class << self
     # The root path that Faraday is being loaded from.
     #
diff --git a/lib/faraday/request.rb b/lib/faraday/request.rb
index e62113595..e2c45948c 100644
--- a/lib/faraday/request.rb
+++ b/lib/faraday/request.rb
@@ -123,11 +123,11 @@ def marshal_dump
     # @param serialised [Hash] the serialised object.
     def marshal_load(serialised)
       self.http_method = serialised[:http_method]
-      self.body        = serialised[:body]
-      self.headers     = serialised[:headers]
-      self.path        = serialised[:path]
-      self.params      = serialised[:params]
-      self.options     = serialised[:options]
+      self.body = serialised[:body]
+      self.headers = serialised[:headers]
+      self.path = serialised[:path]
+      self.params = serialised[:params]
+      self.options = serialised[:options]
     end
 
     # @return [Env] the Env for this Request
diff --git a/lib/faraday/request/json.rb b/lib/faraday/request/json.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a17a4dd06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/faraday/request/json.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'json'
+
+module Faraday
+  class Request
+    # Request middleware that encodes the body as JSON.
+    #
+    # Processes only requests with matching Content-type or those without a type.
+    # If a request doesn't have a type but has a body, it sets the Content-type
+    # to JSON MIME-type.
+    #
+    # Doesn't try to encode bodies that already are in string form.
+    class Json < Middleware
+      MIME_TYPE = 'application/json'
+      MIME_TYPE_REGEX = %r{^application/(vnd\..+\+)?json$}.freeze
+
+      def on_request(env)
+        match_content_type(env) do |data|
+          env[:body] = encode(data)
+        end
+      end
+
+      private
+
+      def encode(data)
+        ::JSON.generate(data)
+      end
+
+      def match_content_type(env)
+        return unless process_request?(env)
+
+        env[:request_headers][CONTENT_TYPE] ||= MIME_TYPE
+        yield env[:body] unless env[:body].respond_to?(:to_str)
+      end
+
+      def process_request?(env)
+        type = request_type(env)
+        body?(env) && (type.empty? || type.match?(MIME_TYPE_REGEX))
+      end
+
+      def body?(env)
+        (body = env[:body]) && !(body.respond_to?(:to_str) && body.empty?)
+      end
+
+      def request_type(env)
+        type = env[:request_headers][CONTENT_TYPE].to_s
+        type = type.split(';', 2).first if type.index(';')
+        type
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/faraday/response.rb b/lib/faraday/response.rb
index 86243dbeb..187525a4b 100644
--- a/lib/faraday/response.rb
+++ b/lib/faraday/response.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def reason_phrase
     def headers
       finished? ? env.response_headers : {}
     end
+
     def_delegator :headers, :[]
 
     def body
diff --git a/lib/faraday/response/json.rb b/lib/faraday/response/json.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19fa72047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/faraday/response/json.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'json'
+
+module Faraday
+  class Response
+    # Parse response bodies as JSON.
+    class Json < Middleware
+      def initialize(app = nil, parser_options: nil, content_type: /\bjson$/, preserve_raw: false)
+        super(app)
+        @parser_options = parser_options
+        @content_types = Array(content_type)
+        @preserve_raw = preserve_raw
+      end
+
+      def on_complete(env)
+        process_response(env) if parse_response?(env)
+      end
+
+      private
+
+      def process_response(env)
+        env[:raw_body] = env[:body] if @preserve_raw
+        env[:body] = parse(env[:body])
+      rescue StandardError, SyntaxError => e
+        raise Faraday::ParsingError.new(e, env[:response])
+      end
+
+      def parse(body)
+        ::JSON.parse(body, @parser_options || {}) unless body.strip.empty?
+      end
+
+      def parse_response?(env)
+        process_response_type?(env) &&
+          env[:body].respond_to?(:to_str)
+      end
+
+      def process_response_type?(env)
+        type = response_type(env)
+        @content_types.empty? || @content_types.any? do |pattern|
+          pattern.is_a?(Regexp) ? type.match?(pattern) : type == pattern
+        end
+      end
+
+      def response_type(env)
+        type = env[:response_headers][CONTENT_TYPE].to_s
+        type = type.split(';', 2).first if type.index(';')
+        type
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/faraday/response/logger.rb b/lib/faraday/response/logger.rb
index 5cdfa1f54..387ce335c 100644
--- a/lib/faraday/response/logger.rb
+++ b/lib/faraday/response/logger.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 require 'forwardable'
+require 'logger'
 require 'faraday/logging/formatter'
 
 module Faraday
@@ -11,10 +12,7 @@ class Response
     class Logger < Middleware
       def initialize(app, logger = nil, options = {})
         super(app)
-        logger ||= begin
-          require 'logger'
-          ::Logger.new($stdout)
-        end
+        logger ||= ::Logger.new($stdout)
         formatter_class = options.delete(:formatter) || Logging::Formatter
         @formatter = formatter_class.new(logger: logger, options: options)
         yield @formatter if block_given?
diff --git a/spec/faraday/request/json_spec.rb b/spec/faraday/request/json_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..89949bc2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/faraday/request/json_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+RSpec.describe Faraday::Request::Json do
+  let(:middleware) { described_class.new(->(env) { Faraday::Response.new(env) }) }
+
+  def process(body, content_type = nil)
+    env = { body: body, request_headers: Faraday::Utils::Headers.new }
+    env[:request_headers]['content-type'] = content_type if content_type
+    middleware.call(Faraday::Env.from(env)).env
+  end
+
+  def result_body
+    result[:body]
+  end
+
+  def result_type
+    result[:request_headers]['content-type']
+  end
+
+  context 'no body' do
+    let(:result) { process(nil) }
+
+    it "doesn't change body" do
+      expect(result_body).to be_nil
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't add content type" do
+      expect(result_type).to be_nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'empty body' do
+    let(:result) { process('') }
+
+    it "doesn't change body" do
+      expect(result_body).to be_empty
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't add content type" do
+      expect(result_type).to be_nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'string body' do
+    let(:result) { process('{"a":1}') }
+
+    it "doesn't change body" do
+      expect(result_body).to eq('{"a":1}')
+    end
+
+    it 'adds content type' do
+      expect(result_type).to eq('application/json')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'object body' do
+    let(:result) { process(a: 1) }
+
+    it 'encodes body' do
+      expect(result_body).to eq('{"a":1}')
+    end
+
+    it 'adds content type' do
+      expect(result_type).to eq('application/json')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'empty object body' do
+    let(:result) { process({}) }
+
+    it 'encodes body' do
+      expect(result_body).to eq('{}')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'object body with json type' do
+    let(:result) { process({ a: 1 }, 'application/json; charset=utf-8') }
+
+    it 'encodes body' do
+      expect(result_body).to eq('{"a":1}')
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't change content type" do
+      expect(result_type).to eq('application/json; charset=utf-8')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'object body with vendor json type' do
+    let(:result) { process({ a: 1 }, 'application/vnd.myapp.v1+json; charset=utf-8') }
+
+    it 'encodes body' do
+      expect(result_body).to eq('{"a":1}')
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't change content type" do
+      expect(result_type).to eq('application/vnd.myapp.v1+json; charset=utf-8')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'object body with incompatible type' do
+    let(:result) { process({ a: 1 }, 'application/xml; charset=utf-8') }
+
+    it "doesn't change body" do
+      expect(result_body).to eq(a: 1)
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't change content type" do
+      expect(result_type).to eq('application/xml; charset=utf-8')
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/faraday/response/json_spec.rb b/spec/faraday/response/json_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a98e8a586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/faraday/response/json_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+RSpec.describe Faraday::Response::Json, type: :response do
+  let(:options) { {} }
+  let(:headers) { {} }
+  let(:middleware) do
+    described_class.new(lambda { |env|
+      Faraday::Response.new(env)
+    }, **options)
+  end
+
+  def process(body, content_type = 'application/json', options = {})
+    env = {
+      body: body, request: options,
+      request_headers: Faraday::Utils::Headers.new,
+      response_headers: Faraday::Utils::Headers.new(headers)
+    }
+    env[:response_headers]['content-type'] = content_type if content_type
+    yield(env) if block_given?
+    middleware.call(Faraday::Env.from(env))
+  end
+
+  context 'no type matching' do
+    it "doesn't change nil body" do
+      expect(process(nil).body).to be_nil
+    end
+
+    it 'nullifies empty body' do
+      expect(process('').body).to be_nil
+    end
+
+    it 'parses json body' do
+      response = process('{"a":1}')
+      expect(response.body).to eq('a' => 1)
+      expect(response.env[:raw_body]).to be_nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'with preserving raw' do
+    let(:options) { { preserve_raw: true } }
+
+    it 'parses json body' do
+      response = process('{"a":1}')
+      expect(response.body).to eq('a' => 1)
+      expect(response.env[:raw_body]).to eq('{"a":1}')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'with default regexp type matching' do
+    it 'parses json body of correct type' do
+      response = process('{"a":1}', 'application/x-json')
+      expect(response.body).to eq('a' => 1)
+    end
+
+    it 'ignores json body of incorrect type' do
+      response = process('{"a":1}', 'text/json-xml')
+      expect(response.body).to eq('{"a":1}')
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'with array type matching' do
+    let(:options) { { content_type: %w[a/b c/d] } }
+
+    it 'parses json body of correct type' do
+      expect(process('{"a":1}', 'a/b').body).to be_a(Hash)
+      expect(process('{"a":1}', 'c/d').body).to be_a(Hash)
+    end
+
+    it 'ignores json body of incorrect type' do
+      expect(process('{"a":1}', 'a/d').body).not_to be_a(Hash)
+    end
+  end
+
+  it 'chokes on invalid json' do
+    expect { process('{!') }.to raise_error(Faraday::ParsingError)
+  end
+
+  it 'includes the response on the ParsingError instance' do
+    begin
+      process('{') { |env| env[:response] = Faraday::Response.new }
+      raise 'Parsing should have failed.'
+    rescue Faraday::ParsingError => e
+      expect(e.response).to be_a(Faraday::Response)
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'HEAD responses' do
+    it "nullifies the body if it's only one space" do
+      response = process(' ')
+      expect(response.body).to be_nil
+    end
+
+    it "nullifies the body if it's two spaces" do
+      response = process(' ')
+      expect(response.body).to be_nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'JSON options' do
+    let(:body) { '{"a": 1}' }
+    let(:result) { { a: 1 } }
+    let(:options) do
+      {
+        parser_options: {
+          symbolize_names: true
+        }
+      }
+    end
+
+    it 'passes relevant options to JSON parse' do
+      expect(::JSON).to receive(:parse)
+        .with(body, options[:parser_options])
+        .and_return(result)
+
+      response = process(body)
+      expect(response.body).to eq(result)
+    end
+  end
+end