diff --git a/library/uri b/library/uri
index 7b0b28f6ab5..178cd6a4427 100644
--- a/library/uri
+++ b/library/uri
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ options:
     default: "GET"
   return_content:
     description:
-      - Whether or not to return the body of the request as a "content" key in the dictionary result.
+      - Whether or not to return the body of the request as a "content" key in the dictionary result. If the reported Content-type is "application/json", then the JSON is additionally loaded into a key called C(json) in the dictionary results.
     required: false
     choices: [ "yes", "no" ]
     default: no
@@ -330,6 +330,14 @@ def main():
         ukey = key.replace("-", "_")  
         uresp[ukey] = value
 
+    if 'content_type' in uresp:
+        if uresp['content_type'].startswith('application/json'):
+            try:
+                js = json.loads(content)
+                uresp['json'] = js
+            except:
+                pass
+
     if resp['status'] != status_code:
         module.fail_json(msg="Status code was not " + status_code, content=content, **uresp)
     elif return_content: