diff --git a/examples/server/tests/features/steps/steps.py b/examples/server/tests/features/steps/steps.py
index 65b71a8e8..822fe4437 100644
--- a/examples/server/tests/features/steps/steps.py
+++ b/examples/server/tests/features/steps/steps.py
@@ -1208,7 +1208,10 @@ async def wait_for_slots_status(context,
         while True:
             async with await session.get(f'{base_url}/slots', params=params) as slots_response:
                 status_code = slots_response.status
-                slots = await slots_response.json()
+                try:
+                    slots = await slots_response.json()
+                except:
+                    slots = await slots_response.text()
                 if context.debug:
                     print(f"slots responses {slots}\n")
                 if status_code == 503 and status_code == expected_http_status_code:
@@ -1372,4 +1375,4 @@ def start_server_background(context):
     thread_stderr = threading.Thread(target=server_log, args=(context.server_process.stderr, sys.stderr))
     thread_stderr.start()
 
-    print(f"server pid={context.server_process.pid}, behave pid={os.getpid()}")
+    print(f"server pid={context.server_process.pid}, behave pid={os.getpid()}")
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