diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java
index ff72eb1e465d..2f6422e8a9ae 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java
@@ -102,12 +102,13 @@ protected boolean hasError(int unknownStatusCode) {
 	public void handleError(ClientHttpResponse response) throws IOException {
 		HttpStatus statusCode = HttpStatus.resolve(response.getRawStatusCode());
 		if (statusCode == null) {
+			byte[] body = getResponseBody(response);
 			String message = getErrorMessage(
 					response.getRawStatusCode(), response.getStatusText(),
-					getResponseBody(response), getCharset(response));
+					body, getCharset(response));
 			throw new UnknownHttpStatusCodeException(message,
 					response.getRawStatusCode(), response.getStatusText(),
-					response.getHeaders(), getResponseBody(response), getCharset(response));
+					response.getHeaders(), body, getCharset(response));
 		}
 		handleError(response, statusCode);
 	}
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java
index c5c05c48e426..30d321fa5658 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.catchThrowable;
 import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 
@@ -160,15 +161,29 @@ public void hasErrorForCustomClientError() throws Exception {
 
 	@Test
 	public void handleErrorForCustomClientError() throws Exception {
+		int statusCode = 499;
+		String statusText = "Custom status code";
+
 		HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
 		headers.setContentType(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN);
 
-		given(response.getRawStatusCode()).willReturn(499);
-		given(response.getStatusText()).willReturn("Custom status code");
+		String responseBody = "Hello World";
+		TestByteArrayInputStream body = new TestByteArrayInputStream(responseBody.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+
+		given(response.getRawStatusCode()).willReturn(statusCode);
+		given(response.getStatusText()).willReturn(statusText);
 		given(response.getHeaders()).willReturn(headers);
+		given(response.getBody()).willReturn(body);
 
-		assertThatExceptionOfType(UnknownHttpStatusCodeException.class).isThrownBy(() ->
-				handler.handleError(response));
+		Throwable throwable = catchThrowable(() -> handler.handleError(response));
+
+		// validate exception
+		assertThat(throwable).isInstanceOf(UnknownHttpStatusCodeException.class);
+		UnknownHttpStatusCodeException actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException = (UnknownHttpStatusCodeException) throwable;
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getRawStatusCode()).isEqualTo(statusCode);
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getStatusText()).isEqualTo(statusText);
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getResponseHeaders()).isEqualTo(headers);
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getResponseBodyAsString()).isEqualTo(responseBody);
 	}
 
 	@Test  // SPR-17461
@@ -185,15 +200,29 @@ public void hasErrorForCustomServerError() throws Exception {
 
 	@Test
 	public void handleErrorForCustomServerError() throws Exception {
+		int statusCode = 599;
+		String statusText = "Custom status code";
+
 		HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
 		headers.setContentType(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN);
 
-		given(response.getRawStatusCode()).willReturn(599);
-		given(response.getStatusText()).willReturn("Custom status code");
+		String responseBody = "Hello World";
+		TestByteArrayInputStream body = new TestByteArrayInputStream(responseBody.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+
+		given(response.getRawStatusCode()).willReturn(statusCode);
+		given(response.getStatusText()).willReturn(statusText);
 		given(response.getHeaders()).willReturn(headers);
+		given(response.getBody()).willReturn(body);
 
-		assertThatExceptionOfType(UnknownHttpStatusCodeException.class).isThrownBy(() ->
-				handler.handleError(response));
+		Throwable throwable = catchThrowable(() -> handler.handleError(response));
+
+		// validate exception
+		assertThat(throwable).isInstanceOf(UnknownHttpStatusCodeException.class);
+		UnknownHttpStatusCodeException actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException = (UnknownHttpStatusCodeException) throwable;
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getRawStatusCode()).isEqualTo(statusCode);
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getStatusText()).isEqualTo(statusText);
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getResponseHeaders()).isEqualTo(headers);
+		assertThat(actualUnknownHttpStatusCodeException.getResponseBodyAsString()).isEqualTo(responseBody);
 	}
 
 	@Test  // SPR-16604
@@ -212,7 +241,6 @@ public void bodyAvailableAfterHasErrorForUnknownStatusCode() throws Exception {
 		assertThat(StreamUtils.copyToString(response.getBody(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)).isEqualTo("Hello World");
 	}
 
-
 	private static class TestByteArrayInputStream extends ByteArrayInputStream {
 
 		private boolean closed;