diff --git a/go-concourse/concourse/configs.go b/go-concourse/concourse/configs.go
index 581ad53e3f2..c468bcbb50b 100644
--- a/go-concourse/concourse/configs.go
+++ b/go-concourse/concourse/configs.go
@@ -96,7 +96,11 @@ func (team *team) CreateOrUpdatePipelineConfig(pipelineRef atc.PipelineRef, conf
 		var validationErr atc.SaveConfigResponse
 		err = json.Unmarshal(body, &validationErr)
 		if err != nil {
-			return false, false, []ConfigWarning{}, err
+			return false, false, []ConfigWarning{}, internal.UnexpectedResponseError{
+				StatusCode: response.StatusCode,
+				Status:     response.Status,
+				Body:       string(body),
+			}
 		}
 		return false, false, []ConfigWarning{}, InvalidConfigError{Errors: validationErr.Errors}
 	case http.StatusForbidden:
diff --git a/go-concourse/concourse/configs_test.go b/go-concourse/concourse/configs_test.go
index 2de9dc55b35..145a86d9735 100644
--- a/go-concourse/concourse/configs_test.go
+++ b/go-concourse/concourse/configs_test.go
@@ -378,6 +378,7 @@ var _ = Describe("ATC Handler Configs", func() {
 				It("returns an error", func() {
 					_, _, _, err := team.CreateOrUpdatePipelineConfig(pipelineRef, expectedVersion, expectedConfig, checkCredentials)
 					Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+					Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("bad-json"))
 				})
 			})
 		})