diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 52985da..416218c 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ $ gopass insert cogito/test_oauth_token
 
 ```console
 $ gopass insert cogito/github_app_client_id
-$ gopass insert gopass show cogito/github_app_installation_id
+$ gopass insert cogito/github_app_installation_id
 $ gopass insert --multiline cogito/github_app_private_key
 ```
 
diff --git a/github/commitstatus.go b/github/commitstatus.go
index 76f926c..eaa7b45 100644
--- a/github/commitstatus.go
+++ b/github/commitstatus.go
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ func (cs CommitStatus) Add(ctx context.Context, sha, state, targetURL, descripti
 		remaining := resp.Header.Get("X-RateLimit-Remaining")
 		limit := resp.Header.Get("X-RateLimit-Limit")
 		reset := resp.Header.Get("X-RateLimit-Reset")
+		contentType := resp.Header.Get("Content-Type")
 		cs.log.Debug(
 			"http-request",
 			"method", req.Method,
@@ -161,7 +162,18 @@ func (cs CommitStatus) Add(ctx context.Context, sha, state, targetURL, descripti
 		}
 
 		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-		return NewGitHubError(resp, errors.New(strings.TrimSpace(string(body))))
+		buffer := body
+		if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(contentType), "application/json") {
+			var foo map[string]any
+			if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &foo); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("normalizing JSON: unmarshal: %s", err)
+			}
+			buffer, err = json.Marshal(foo)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("normalizing JSON: marshal: %s", err)
+			}
+		}
+		return NewGitHubError(resp, errors.New(strings.TrimSpace(string(buffer))))
 	}
 
 	if err := cs.target.Retry.Do(Backoff, Classifier, workFn); err != nil {
diff --git a/github/commitstatus_test.go b/github/commitstatus_test.go
index 9a8dfd7..57ccfb2 100644
--- a/github/commitstatus_test.go
+++ b/github/commitstatus_test.go
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ func TestGitHubStatusFailureIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 			name:  "bad token: Unauthorized",
 			token: "bad-token",
 			wantErr: `failed to add state "success" for commit 751affd: 401 Unauthorized
-Body: {"message":"Bad credentials","documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest","status":"401"}
+Body: {"documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest","message":"Bad credentials","status":"401"}
 Hint: Either wrong credentials or PAT expired (check your email for expiration notice)
 Action: POST https://api.github.com/repos/pix4d/cogito-test-read-write/statuses/751affd155db7a00d936ee6e9f483deee69c5922
 OAuth: X-Accepted-Oauth-Scopes: , X-Oauth-Scopes: `,
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ OAuth: X-Accepted-Oauth-Scopes: , X-Oauth-Scopes: `,
 			name: "non existing repo: Not Found",
 			repo: "non-existing-really",
 			wantErr: `failed to add state "success" for commit 751affd: 404 Not Found
-Body: {"message":"Not Found","documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest/commits/statuses#create-a-commit-status","status":"404"}
+Body: {"documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest/commits/statuses#create-a-commit-status","message":"Not Found","status":"404"}
 Hint: one of the following happened:
     1. The repo https://github.com/pix4d/non-existing-really doesn't exist
     2. The user who issued the token doesn't have write access to the repo
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ OAuth: X-Accepted-Oauth-Scopes: repo, X-Oauth-Scopes: repo:status`,
 			name: "non existing SHA: Unprocessable Entity",
 			sha:  "e576e3aa7aaaa048b396e2f34fa24c9cf4d1e822",
 			wantErr: `failed to add state "success" for commit e576e3a: 422 Unprocessable Entity
-Body: {"message":"No commit found for SHA: e576e3aa7aaaa048b396e2f34fa24c9cf4d1e822","documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest/commits/statuses#create-a-commit-status","status":"422"}
+Body: {"documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest/commits/statuses#create-a-commit-status","message":"No commit found for SHA: e576e3aa7aaaa048b396e2f34fa24c9cf4d1e822","status":"422"}
 Hint: none
 Action: POST https://api.github.com/repos/pix4d/cogito-test-read-write/statuses/e576e3aa7aaaa048b396e2f34fa24c9cf4d1e822
 OAuth: X-Accepted-Oauth-Scopes: , X-Oauth-Scopes: repo:status`,