diff --git a/boto3_helpers/s3.py b/boto3_helpers/s3.py
index 6e01872..3aa4982 100644
--- a/boto3_helpers/s3.py
+++ b/boto3_helpers/s3.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 from boto3 import client as boto3_client
 
-
 SELECT_FORMATS = {
     'json': {'JSON': {'Type': 'DOCUMENT'}},
     'json.gz': {'JSON': {'Type': 'DOCUMENT'}, 'CompressionType': 'GZIP'},
diff --git a/boto3_helpers/signed_requests.py b/boto3_helpers/signed_requests.py
index 6f0038e..bf4aff4 100644
--- a/boto3_helpers/signed_requests.py
+++ b/boto3_helpers/signed_requests.py
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ def __init__(self, status_code, content):
 
 
 def sigv4_request(
-    service, method, endpoint, client=None, base_url=None, operation_name=None, **kwargs
+    service,
+    method,
+    endpoint,
+    client=None,
+    base_url=None,
+    operation_name=None,
+    decode_json=True,
+    **kwargs,
 ):
     """Make a signed request to the AWS API and return the JSON payload.
 
@@ -28,6 +35,8 @@ def sigv4_request(
     * *base_url* is the URL for the target AWS API. If not given, a guess will be made
       based on the service name and client region.
     * *operation_name* is the name of the API operation to use when signing the request
+    * *decode_json* controls whether responses are automatically deserialized from
+      JSON (default: ``True``).
     * **kwargs** are passed on to an ``AWSRequest`` object.
 
     If the API response indicates an error,
@@ -83,4 +92,7 @@ def sigv4_request(
     if not (200 <= resp.status_code <= 299):
         raise SigV4RequestException(resp.status_code, resp.content)
 
-    return loads(resp.content)
+    if decode_json:
+        return loads(resp.content)
+    else:
+        return resp.content
diff --git a/tests/test_signed_requests.py b/tests/test_signed_requests.py
index bde3c4f..0a8dcef 100644
--- a/tests/test_signed_requests.py
+++ b/tests/test_signed_requests.py
@@ -39,6 +39,40 @@ def test_call_succeeds(self):
 
         _client._endpoint.http_session.send.assert_called_once_with(sign_call[0][1])
 
+    def test_no_json_succeeds(self):
+        _client = MagicMock()
+        _client.meta.region_name = 'test-region-1'
+        _client._endpoint.http_session.send.return_value = MagicMock(
+            status_code=200, content=b'Hello world'
+        )
+
+        service = 'scheduler'
+        method = 'POST'
+        endpoint = '/schedules?MaxResults=1'
+        operation_name = 'ListSchedules'
+        actual = sigv4_request(
+            service,
+            method,
+            endpoint,
+            client=_client,
+            operation_name=operation_name,
+            decode_json=False,
+            data='{"test": "payload"}',
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(actual, b'Hello world')
+
+        sign_call = _client._request_signer.sign.call_args
+        self.assertEqual(sign_call[0][0], operation_name)
+        self.assertEqual(sign_call[0][1].method, method)
+        self.assertEqual(sign_call[0][1].data, '{"test": "payload"}')
+        self.assertEqual(
+            sign_call[0][1].url,
+            'https://scheduler.test-region-1.amazonaws.com/schedules?MaxResults=1',
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(sign_call[1], {'signing_name': service})
+
+        _client._endpoint.http_session.send.assert_called_once_with(sign_call[0][1])
+
     def test_call_fails(self):
         _client = MagicMock()
         _client.meta.region_name = 'test-region-1'