diff --git a/dist/sqs-queue-parallel.js b/dist/sqs-queue-parallel.js
index 2663227..962c5a5 100644
--- a/dist/sqs-queue-parallel.js
+++ b/dist/sqs-queue-parallel.js
@@ -74,9 +74,15 @@
               console.log("SqsQueueParallel " + self.config.name + "[" + index + "]: " + queue.Messages.length + " new messages");
             }
             return async.eachSeries(queue.Messages, function(message, next) {
+              var messageBody;
+              try {
+                messageBody = JSON.parse(message.Body);
+              } catch (_error) {
+                messageBody = message.Body;
+              }
               return self.emit("message", {
                 type: 'message',
-                data: JSON.parse(message.Body) || message.Body,
+                data: messageBody,
                 message: message,
                 metadata: queue.ResponseMetadata,
                 url: self.url,
diff --git a/src/sqs-queue-parallel.coffee b/src/sqs-queue-parallel.coffee
index 3ebdb1b..f56cd03 100644
--- a/src/sqs-queue-parallel.coffee
+++ b/src/sqs-queue-parallel.coffee
@@ -43,9 +43,13 @@ module.exports = class SqsQueueParallel extends events.EventEmitter
 					return next null unless queue.Messages?[0]
 					console.log "SqsQueueParallel #{ self.config.name }[#{ index }]: #{ queue.Messages.length } new messages" if self.config.debug
 					async.eachSeries queue.Messages, (message, next) ->
+						try
+							messageBody = JSON.parse(message.Body)
+						catch
+							messageBody = message.Body
 						self.emit "message",
 							type: 'message'
-							data: JSON.parse(message.Body) or message.Body
+							data: messageBody
 							message: message
 							metadata: queue.ResponseMetadata
 							url: self.url