diff --git a/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/main/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtils.java b/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/main/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtils.java
index 159e2bc6..573e997f 100644
--- a/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/main/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtils.java
+++ b/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/main/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtils.java
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ public static String inOneLine(Map<String, List<String>> headers) {
      * @param statusCode status code of the http response.
      * @param body The error response body as a String.
      * @param contentType The content type of the error response.
-     * @return An instance of WatsonxError parsed from the body.
+     * @return An instance of WatsonxError parsed from the body, or an unclassified error carrying the status code when the content type is neither
+     *         JSON nor XML.
      */
     public static WatsonxError parseErrorBody(int statusCode, String body, String contentType) {
         if (isNull(contentType))
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ public static WatsonxError parseErrorBody(int statusCode, String body, String co
         if (contentType.contains("application/xml"))
             return parseXmlError(body);
 
-        throw new RuntimeException(body);
+        return new WatsonxError(statusCode, "", List.of(new Error(Code.UNCLASSIFIED.value(), body, null)));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtilsTest.java b/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtilsTest.java
index a019f803..8081d743 100644
--- a/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtilsTest.java
+++ b/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/HttpUtilsTest.java
@@ -277,10 +277,23 @@ void should_parse_model_gateway_error_body_correctly_from_json() {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void should_throw_runtime_exception_when_parsing_error_body_with_unsupported_content_type() {
-        assertThrows(RuntimeException.class, () -> {
-            HttpUtils.parseErrorBody(500, "test body", "text/plain");
-        });
+    void should_parse_error_body_as_unclassified_when_content_type_is_not_supported() {
+        WatsonxError result = HttpUtils.parseErrorBody(500, "test body", "text/plain");
+        assertEquals(500, result.statusCode());
+        assertEquals(1, result.errors().size());
+        assertEquals(WatsonxError.Code.UNCLASSIFIED.value(), result.errors().get(0).code());
+        assertEquals("test body", result.errors().get(0).message());
+        assertEquals(null, result.errors().get(0).moreInfo());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void should_keep_status_code_when_gateway_returns_plain_text_error() {
+        WatsonxError result = HttpUtils.parseErrorBody(502, "error code: 502", "text/plain");
+        assertEquals(502, result.statusCode());
+        assertEquals("error code: 502", result.errors().get(0).message());
+
+        var ex = HttpUtils.mapWatsonxException(new WatsonxException("error code: 502", 502, result));
+        assertEquals(502, ex.statusCode());
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/RetryInterceptorTest.java b/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/RetryInterceptorTest.java
index 119be0b9..0be41b9e 100644
--- a/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/RetryInterceptorTest.java
+++ b/modules/watsonx-ai-core/src/test/java/com/ibm/watsonx/ai/core/RetryInterceptorTest.java
@@ -362,6 +362,39 @@ public <T> HttpResponse<T> intercept(HttpRequest request, BodyHandler<T> bodyHan
             client.send(httpRequest, bodyHandler);
             verify(httpClient, times(4)).send(any(), eq(bodyHandler));
         }
+
+        @Test
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        void should_retry_when_plain_text_response_has_retryable_status_code() throws Exception {
+
+            SyncHttpClient client = SyncHttpClient.builder()
+                .httpClient(httpClient)
+                .interceptor(RetryInterceptor.ON_RETRYABLE_STATUS_CODES)
+                .interceptor(mockInterceptor)
+                .build();
+
+            when(mockInterceptor.intercept(any(), eq(bodyHandler), anyInt(), any()))
+                .thenAnswer(CHAIN_MOCK);
+
+            var badGatewayResponse = mock(HttpResponse.class);
+            when(badGatewayResponse.statusCode()).thenReturn(502);
+            when(badGatewayResponse.headers())
+                .thenReturn(HttpHeaders.of(Map.of("Content-Type", List.of("text/plain")), (t, u) -> true));
+            when(badGatewayResponse.body()).thenReturn("error code: 502");
+
+            when(httpResponse.statusCode())
+                .thenReturn(200);
+
+            when(httpClient.send(any(), eq(bodyHandler)))
+                .thenReturn(badGatewayResponse)
+                .thenReturn(httpResponse);
+
+            var result = client.send(httpRequest, bodyHandler);
+            assertEquals(httpResponse, result);
+            verify(httpClient, times(2)).send(any(), eq(bodyHandler));
+            verify(mockInterceptor, times(2)).intercept(any(), eq(bodyHandler), anyInt(), any());
+        }
+
     }
 
     @Nested
@@ -625,6 +658,49 @@ public <T> CompletableFuture<HttpResponse<T>> intercept(HttpRequest request, Bod
             client.send(httpRequest, bodyHandler).join();
             verify(httpClient, times(4)).sendAsync(any(), any(BodyHandler.class));
         }
+
+        @Test
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        void should_retry_when_plain_text_response_has_retryable_status_code() throws Exception {
+
+            AsyncHttpClient client = AsyncHttpClient.builder()
+                .httpClient(httpClient)
+                .interceptor(RetryInterceptor.ON_RETRYABLE_STATUS_CODES)
+                .interceptor(mockInterceptor)
+                .build();
+
+            when(mockInterceptor.intercept(any(), eq(bodyHandler), anyInt(), any()))
+                .thenAnswer(CHAIN_MOCK);
+
+            when(httpClient.sendAsync(any(), any(BodyHandler.class)))
+                .thenAnswer(invocation -> {
+                    BodyHandler<String> handler = invocation.getArgument(1);
+                    var responseInfo = mock(HttpResponse.ResponseInfo.class);
+                    when(responseInfo.statusCode()).thenReturn(502);
+                    when(responseInfo.headers())
+                        .thenReturn(HttpHeaders.of(Map.of("Content-Type", List.of("text/plain")), (t, u) -> true));
+
+                    var subscriber = handler.apply(responseInfo);
+
+                    subscriber.onSubscribe(mock(Flow.Subscription.class));
+                    subscriber.onNext(List.of(ByteBuffer.wrap("error code: 502".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))));
+                    subscriber.onComplete();
+
+                    return subscriber.getBody().handle((body, throwable) -> {
+                        if (throwable != null) {
+                            return CompletableFuture.failedFuture(throwable);
+                        }
+                        return CompletableFuture.failedFuture(new IllegalStateException("Exception was expected"));
+                    }).thenCompose(cf -> cf);
+                })
+                .thenReturn(completedFuture(httpResponse));
+
+            var result = client.send(httpRequest, bodyHandler).get();
+            assertEquals(httpResponse, result);
+            verify(httpClient, times(2)).sendAsync(any(), any(BodyHandler.class));
+            verify(mockInterceptor, times(2)).intercept(any(), eq(bodyHandler), anyInt(), any());
+        }
+
     }
 
     @Test