diff --git a/core/src/test/java/feign/JavaLoggerTest.java b/core/src/test/java/feign/JavaLoggerTest.java
index f05d839e1..3799d79b4 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/feign/JavaLoggerTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/feign/JavaLoggerTest.java
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ void rebuffersResponseBodyWhenJulLevelIsInfo() throws Exception {
         Response.builder()
             .status(200)
             .reason("OK")
-            .request(
-                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+            .request(Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body("{\"error\":\"test\"}", Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -69,8 +68,7 @@ void rebuffersResponseBodyWhenJulLevelIsWarning() throws Exception {
         Response.builder()
             .status(500)
             .reason("Internal Server Error")
-            .request(
-                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+            .request(Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body("{\"message\":\"error details\"}", Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -95,8 +93,7 @@ void responseBodyReadableMultipleTimesForErrorDecoder() throws Exception {
             .status(400)
             .reason("Bad Request")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.POST, "/api/submit", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.POST, "/api/submit", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body(originalBody, Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/feign/LoggerRebufferTest.java b/core/src/test/java/feign/LoggerRebufferTest.java
index 5928a8f25..ab1e1f230 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/feign/LoggerRebufferTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/feign/LoggerRebufferTest.java
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ void headersLevelRebuffersResponseBody() throws Exception {
             .status(404)
             .reason("Not Found")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.GET, "/api/resource", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api/resource", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body(originalBody, Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -70,8 +69,7 @@ void basicLevelDoesNotRebufferResponseBody() throws Exception {
             .status(200)
             .reason("OK")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.GET, "/api/resource", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api/resource", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body(originalBody, Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -94,8 +92,7 @@ void fullLevelRebuffersResponseBody() throws Exception {
             .status(200)
             .reason("OK")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.POST, "/api/create", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.POST, "/api/create", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body(originalBody, Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -122,8 +119,7 @@ void noneLevelDoesNotRebufferResponseBody() throws Exception {
             .status(200)
             .reason("OK")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.GET, "/api/status", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api/status", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body(originalBody, Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -146,7 +142,7 @@ void http204DoesNotRebufferEvenAtHeadersLevel() throws Exception {
             .reason("No Content")
             .request(
                 Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.DELETE, "/api/resource/1", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                    HttpMethod.DELETE, "/api/resource/1", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body("should be ignored", Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -168,8 +164,7 @@ void http205DoesNotRebufferEvenAtHeadersLevel() throws Exception {
             .status(205)
             .reason("Reset Content")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.POST, "/api/form", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.POST, "/api/form", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body("should be ignored", Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -192,7 +187,7 @@ void nullBodyHandledCorrectlyAtHeadersLevel() throws Exception {
             .reason("OK")
             .request(
                 Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.HEAD, "/api/resource", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                    HttpMethod.HEAD, "/api/resource", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body((byte[]) null)
             .build();
diff --git a/java11/src/test/java/feign/http2client/test/Http2ClientTest.java b/java11/src/test/java/feign/http2client/test/Http2ClientTest.java
index a769bda6b..4f3602322 100644
--- a/java11/src/test/java/feign/http2client/test/Http2ClientTest.java
+++ b/java11/src/test/java/feign/http2client/test/Http2ClientTest.java
@@ -26,16 +26,20 @@
 import feign.http2client.Http2Client;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.ServerSocket;
+import java.net.Socket;
 import java.net.http.HttpTimeoutException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 import okhttp3.mockwebserver.MockResponse;
 import okhttp3.mockwebserver.RecordedRequest;
-import org.json.JSONException;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
-import org.skyscreamer.jsonassert.JSONAssert;
 
 /** Tests client-specific behavior, such as ensuring Content-Length is sent when specified. */
 public class Http2ClientTest extends AbstractClientTest {
@@ -83,17 +87,39 @@ public interface TestInterface {
   @Override
   @Test
   public void patch() throws Exception {
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("foo"));
+
     final TestInterface api =
-        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "https://nghttp2.org/httpbin/");
-    assertThat(api.patch("")).contains("https://nghttp2.org/httpbin/patch");
+        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "http://localhost:" + server.getPort());
+
+    assertThat(api.patch("some text")).isEqualTo("foo");
+
+    MockWebServerAssertions.assertThat(server.takeRequest())
+        .hasMethod("PATCH")
+        .hasPath("/patch")
+        .hasBody("some text");
   }
 
   @Override
   @Test
   public void noResponseBodyForPatch() {
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse());
+
     final TestInterface api =
-        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "https://nghttp2.org/httpbin/");
-    assertThat(api.patch()).contains("https://nghttp2.org/httpbin/patch");
+        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "http://localhost:" + server.getPort());
+
+    assertThat(api.patch()).isEmpty();
+
+    MockWebServerAssertions.assertThat(takeRequest()).hasMethod("PATCH").hasPath("/patch");
+  }
+
+  private RecordedRequest takeRequest() {
+    try {
+      return server.takeRequest();
+    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+      Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+      throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+    }
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -150,21 +176,61 @@ void timeoutTest() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  void getWithRequestBody() throws JSONException {
-    final TestInterface api =
-        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "https://nghttp2.org/httpbin/");
-    String result = api.getWithBody();
-    String expected = "{ \"data\":\"some request body\" }";
-    JSONAssert.assertEquals(expected, result, false);
+  void getWithRequestBody() throws Exception {
+    // MockWebServer rejects GET requests carrying a body ("Request must not have a body"),
+    // so this test runs against a minimal local socket server instead.
+    try (ServerSocket httpServer = new ServerSocket(0, 1, InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress())) {
+      final AtomicReference<String> receivedRequest = new AtomicReference<>();
+      final Thread serverThread =
+          new Thread(
+              () -> {
+                try (Socket socket = httpServer.accept()) {
+                  socket.setSoTimeout(5000);
+                  final InputStream in = socket.getInputStream();
+                  final StringBuilder request = new StringBuilder();
+                  final byte[] buffer = new byte[8192];
+                  while (!request.toString().contains("some request body")) {
+                    final int read = in.read(buffer);
+                    if (read == -1) {
+                      break;
+                    }
+                    request.append(new String(buffer, 0, read, UTF_8));
+                  }
+                  receivedRequest.set(request.toString());
+                  socket
+                      .getOutputStream()
+                      .write("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 3\r\n\r\nfoo".getBytes(UTF_8));
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                  throw new UncheckedIOException(e);
+                }
+              });
+      serverThread.start();
+
+      final TestInterface api =
+          newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "http://localhost:" + httpServer.getLocalPort());
+
+      assertThat(api.getWithBody()).isEqualTo("foo");
+
+      serverThread.join(5000);
+      assertThat(receivedRequest.get())
+          .startsWith("GET /anything HTTP/1.1")
+          .contains("some request body");
+    }
   }
 
   @Test
-  void deleteWithRequestBody() throws JSONException {
+  void deleteWithRequestBody() throws Exception {
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("foo"));
+
     final TestInterface api =
-        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "https://nghttp2.org/httpbin/");
-    String result = api.deleteWithBody();
-    String expected = "{ \"data\":\"some request body\" }";
-    JSONAssert.assertEquals(expected, result, false);
+        newBuilder().target(TestInterface.class, "http://localhost:" + server.getPort());
+
+    assertThat(api.deleteWithBody()).isEqualTo("foo");
+
+    MockWebServerAssertions.assertThat(server.takeRequest())
+        .hasMethod("DELETE")
+        .hasPath("/anything")
+        .hasBody("some request body");
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/slf4j/src/test/java/feign/slf4j/Slf4jLoggerTest.java b/slf4j/src/test/java/feign/slf4j/Slf4jLoggerTest.java
index 12973ff4e..6df54f9ef 100644
--- a/slf4j/src/test/java/feign/slf4j/Slf4jLoggerTest.java
+++ b/slf4j/src/test/java/feign/slf4j/Slf4jLoggerTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import feign.Request.HttpMethod;
 import feign.RequestTemplate;
 import feign.Response;
+import feign.Util;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
@@ -124,8 +125,7 @@ void rebuffersResponseBodyWhenLogLevelIsInfo() throws Exception {
         Response.builder()
             .status(200)
             .reason("OK")
-            .request(
-                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+            .request(Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body("{\"error\":\"test\"}", Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -150,8 +150,7 @@ void rebuffersResponseBodyWhenLogLevelIsFull() throws Exception {
         Response.builder()
             .status(500)
             .reason("Internal Server Error")
-            .request(
-                Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+            .request(Request.create(HttpMethod.GET, "/api", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body("{\"message\":\"error details\"}", Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
@@ -177,8 +176,7 @@ void responseBodyReadableMultipleTimes() throws Exception {
             .status(400)
             .reason("Bad Request")
             .request(
-                Request.create(
-                    HttpMethod.POST, "/api/submit", Collections.emptyMap(), null, Util.UTF_8))
+                Request.create(HttpMethod.POST, "/api/submit", Collections.emptyMap(), null, null))
             .headers(Collections.<String, Collection<String>>emptyMap())
             .body(originalBody, Util.UTF_8)
             .build();
diff --git a/validation-jakarta/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java b/validation-jakarta/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java
index b2c977a24..36748ac29 100644
--- a/validation-jakarta/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java
+++ b/validation-jakarta/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import feign.Feign;
 import feign.Param;
+import feign.Request;
 import feign.RequestLine;
 import jakarta.validation.ConstraintViolationException;
 import jakarta.validation.Valid;
@@ -76,7 +77,8 @@ interface Api {
 
   private Api api() {
     return Feign.builder()
-        .encoder((object, bodyType, template) -> template.body(String.valueOf(object)))
+        .encoder(
+            (object, bodyType, template) -> template.body(Request.Body.of(String.valueOf(object))))
         .methodInterceptor(BeanValidationMethodInterceptor.usingDefaultFactory())
         .target(Api.class, "http://localhost:" + server.getPort());
   }
diff --git a/validation/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java b/validation/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java
index 11c19dd11..a25b393a3 100644
--- a/validation/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java
+++ b/validation/src/test/java/feign/validation/BeanValidationMethodInterceptorTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import feign.Feign;
 import feign.Param;
+import feign.Request;
 import feign.RequestLine;
 import javax.validation.ConstraintViolationException;
 import javax.validation.Valid;
@@ -76,7 +77,8 @@ interface Api {
 
   private Api api() {
     return Feign.builder()
-        .encoder((object, bodyType, template) -> template.body(String.valueOf(object)))
+        .encoder(
+            (object, bodyType, template) -> template.body(Request.Body.of(String.valueOf(object))))
         .methodInterceptor(BeanValidationMethodInterceptor.usingDefaultFactory())
         .target(Api.class, "http://localhost:" + server.getPort());
   }