diff --git a/Octokit.Tests/SimpleJsonSerializerTests.cs b/Octokit.Tests/SimpleJsonSerializerTests.cs
index ddfe21dd0f..18756d5cc0 100644
--- a/Octokit.Tests/SimpleJsonSerializerTests.cs
+++ b/Octokit.Tests/SimpleJsonSerializerTests.cs
@@ -80,8 +80,16 @@ public void HandlesBase64EncodedStrings()
             }
         }
 
+        
         public class TheDeserializeMethod
         {
+            [Fact]
+            public void DeserializesEventInfosWithUnderscoresInName()
+            {
+                const string json = "{\"event\":\"head_ref_deleted\"}";
+                new SimpleJsonSerializer().Deserialize<EventInfo>(json);                
+            }
+
             [Fact]
             public void UnderstandsRubyCasing()
             {
diff --git a/Octokit/Http/SimpleJsonSerializer.cs b/Octokit/Http/SimpleJsonSerializer.cs
index c8f93ea28e..e0eb8524f1 100644
--- a/Octokit/Http/SimpleJsonSerializer.cs
+++ b/Octokit/Http/SimpleJsonSerializer.cs
@@ -87,10 +87,11 @@ public override object DeserializeObject(object value, Type type)
                 var stringValue = value as string;
                 if (stringValue != null)
                 {
+                    stringValue = stringValue.Replace("-", "");
                     if (ReflectionUtils.GetTypeInfo(type).IsEnum)
                     {
                         // remove '-' from values coming in to be able to enum utf-8
-                        stringValue = stringValue.Replace("-", "");
+                        stringValue = RemoveHyphenAndUnderscore(stringValue);
                         return Enum.Parse(type, stringValue, ignoreCase: true);
                     }
 
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ public override object DeserializeObject(object value, Type type)
                         var underlyingType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(type);
                         if (ReflectionUtils.GetTypeInfo(underlyingType).IsEnum)
                         {
+                            stringValue = RemoveHyphenAndUnderscore(stringValue);
                             return Enum.Parse(underlyingType, stringValue, ignoreCase: true);
                         }
                     }
@@ -118,6 +120,15 @@ public override object DeserializeObject(object value, Type type)
                 return base.DeserializeObject(value, type);
             }
 
+            static string RemoveHyphenAndUnderscore(string stringValue)
+            {
+                // remove '-' from values coming in to be able to enum utf-8
+                stringValue = stringValue.Replace("-", "");
+                // remove '-' from values coming in to be able to enum EventInfoState names with underscores in them. Like "head_ref_deleted" 
+                stringValue = stringValue.Replace("_", "");
+                return stringValue;
+            }
+
             internal override IDictionary<string, KeyValuePair<Type, ReflectionUtils.SetDelegate>> SetterValueFactory(Type type)
             {
                 return type.GetPropertiesAndFields()