diff --git a/requests/models.py b/requests/models.py
index dfbea854f9..5d02589155 100644
--- a/requests/models.py
+++ b/requests/models.py
@@ -914,7 +914,12 @@ def json(self, **kwargs):
             if is_py2: # e is a ValueError
                 raise RequestsJSONDecodeError(e.message)
             else:
-                raise RequestsJSONDecodeError(e.msg, e.doc, e.pos)
+                doc = e.doc
+                if doc:
+                    offset = max(0, e.pos - 2000)
+                    end = min(len(e.doc), e.pos + 2000)
+                    doc = e.doc[offset:end]
+                raise RequestsJSONDecodeError(e.msg, doc, e.pos)
 
     @property
     def links(self):