diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1966279..f7cea96 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ The default plugins under node are `[stringify, headers, cookieJar, unzip, conca
 **Options using browser transport**
 
 * **withCredentials** Send cookies with CORS requests (default: `false`)
+* **responseType** Set the XHR `responseType` (default: `undefined`)
 
 #### Short-hand Methods
 
diff --git a/lib/browser.ts b/lib/browser.ts
index c74e4cf..0208b0c 100644
--- a/lib/browser.ts
+++ b/lib/browser.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ function open (request: Request) {
   return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
     const url = request.fullUrl()
     const method = request.method
+    const responseType = request.options.responseType
 
     // Loading HTTP resources from HTTPS is restricted and uncatchable.
     if (window.location.protocol === 'https:' && /^http\:/.test(url)) {
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ function open (request: Request) {
       return resolve({
         status: xhr.status === 1223 ? 204 : xhr.status,
         headers: getHeaders(xhr.getAllResponseHeaders()),
-        body: xhr.responseText,
+        body: responseType ? xhr.response : xhr.responseText,
         url: xhr.responseURL
       })
     }
@@ -76,6 +77,16 @@ function open (request: Request) {
       xhr.withCredentials = true
     }
 
+    if (responseType) {
+      try {
+        xhr.responseType = responseType
+      } finally {
+        if (xhr.responseType !== responseType) {
+          throw request.error(`Unsupported response type: ${responseType}`, 'ERESPONSETYPE')
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     // Set all headers with original casing.
     Object.keys(request.headers).forEach(function (header) {
       xhr.setRequestHeader(request.name(header), request.get(header))
diff --git a/lib/plugins/common.ts b/lib/plugins/common.ts
index 9866579..879aa77 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/common.ts
+++ b/lib/plugins/common.ts
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@ function stringifyRequest (request: Request) {
 function parseResponse (response: Response) {
   const body = response.body
 
+  if (typeof body !== 'string') {
+    return
+  }
+
   if (body === '') {
     response.body = null
 
diff --git a/popsicle.js b/popsicle.js
index 6bd02ce..a24fb1a 100644
--- a/popsicle.js
+++ b/popsicle.js
@@ -988,6 +988,7 @@ function open(request) {
     return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
         var url = request.fullUrl();
         var method = request.method;
+        var responseType = request.options.responseType;
         if (window.location.protocol === 'https:' && /^http\:/.test(url)) {
             return reject(request.error("The request to \"" + url + "\" was blocked", 'EBLOCKED'));
         }
@@ -996,7 +997,7 @@ function open(request) {
             return resolve({
                 status: xhr.status === 1223 ? 204 : xhr.status,
                 headers: get_headers_1.parse(xhr.getAllResponseHeaders()),
-                body: xhr.responseText,
+                body: responseType ? xhr.response : xhr.responseText,
                 url: xhr.responseURL
             });
         };
@@ -1033,6 +1034,16 @@ function open(request) {
         if (request.options.withCredentials) {
             xhr.withCredentials = true;
         }
+        if (responseType) {
+            try {
+                xhr.responseType = responseType;
+            }
+            finally {
+                if (xhr.responseType !== responseType) {
+                    throw request.error("Unsupported response type: " + responseType, 'ERESPONSETYPE');
+                }
+            }
+        }
         Object.keys(request.headers).forEach(function (header) {
             xhr.setRequestHeader(request.name(header), request.get(header));
         });
diff --git a/test/index.ts b/test/index.ts
index 868a3b0..65cd3b0 100644
--- a/test/index.ts
+++ b/test/index.ts
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ test('response body', function (t) {
         })
     })
 
-    t.test('should unzip contents', function (t) {
+    t.test('unzip contents', function (t) {
       return popsicle({
         url: REMOTE_URL + '/echo/zip',
         body: fs.createReadStream(filename)
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ test('response body', function (t) {
         })
     })
 
-    t.test('should unzip with gzip encoding', function (t) {
+    t.test('unzip with gzip encoding', function (t) {
       return popsicle({
         url: REMOTE_URL + '/echo/zip',
         body: fs.createReadStream(filename),
@@ -585,6 +585,33 @@ test('response body', function (t) {
           t.equal(res.body, filecontents)
         })
     })
+  } else {
+    t.test('browser response type', function (t) {
+      return popsicle({
+        url: REMOTE_URL + '/text',
+        options: {
+          responseType: 'arraybuffer'
+        }
+      })
+        .then(function (res) {
+          t.ok(res.body instanceof ArrayBuffer)
+        })
+    })
+
+    t.test('throw on unsupported response type', function (t) {
+      t.plan(2)
+
+      return popsicle({
+        url: REMOTE_URL + '/text',
+        options: {
+          responseType: 'foobar'
+        }
+      })
+        .catch(function (err) {
+          t.equal(err.message, 'Unsupported response type: foobar')
+          t.equal(err.type, 'ERESPONSETYPE')
+        })
+    })
   }
 })