diff --git a/net/http/retrier.go b/net/http/retrier.go
index 39c4fbb..47da0d0 100644
--- a/net/http/retrier.go
+++ b/net/http/retrier.go
@@ -19,19 +19,17 @@ import (
 
 // ErrStatusCode can be used to treat/indicate a status code as an error and ability to indicate if it is retryable.
 type ErrStatusCode struct {
-	// StatusCode is the HTTP response status code that was encountered.
-	StatusCode int
+	// Response contains the full HTTP response associated with the request.
+	// It is the responsibility of the caller to handle closing the body.
+	Response *http.Response
 
 	// IsRetryableStatusCode indicates if the status code is considered retryable.
 	IsRetryableStatusCode bool
-
-	// Headers contains the headers from the HTTP response.
-	Headers http.Header
 }
 
 // Error returns the error message for the status code.
 func (e ErrStatusCode) Error() string {
-	return "status code encountered: " + strconv.Itoa(e.StatusCode)
+	return "status code encountered: " + strconv.Itoa(e.Response.StatusCode)
 }
 
 // IsRetryable returns if the provided status code is considered retryable.
@@ -60,6 +58,7 @@ type Retryer struct {
 	maxMemory               bytesext.Bytes
 	mode                    errorsext.MaxAttemptsMode
 	maxAttempts             uint8
+	extractStatusCodeBody   bool
 }
 
 // NewRetryer returns a new `Retryer` with sane default values.
@@ -81,10 +80,11 @@ type Retryer struct {
 // however every attempt will be made to maintain backwards compatibility or made additive-only if possible.
 func NewRetryer() Retryer {
 	return Retryer{
-		client:      http.DefaultClient,
-		maxMemory:   2 * bytesext.MiB,
-		mode:        errorsext.MaxAttemptsNonRetryableReset,
-		maxAttempts: 5,
+		client:                http.DefaultClient,
+		maxMemory:             2 * bytesext.MiB,
+		mode:                  errorsext.MaxAttemptsNonRetryableReset,
+		maxAttempts:           5,
+		extractStatusCodeBody: true,
 		isRetryableFn: func(ctx context.Context, err error) (isRetryable bool) {
 			_, isRetryable = errorsext.IsRetryableHTTP(err)
 			return
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ func NewRetryer() Retryer {
 		isEarlyReturnFn: func(_ context.Context, err error) bool {
 			var sce ErrStatusCode
 			if errors.As(err, &sce) {
-				return IsNonRetryableStatusCode(sce.StatusCode)
+				return IsNonRetryableStatusCode(sce.Response.StatusCode)
 			}
 			return false
 		},
@@ -109,8 +109,10 @@ func NewRetryer() Retryer {
 			wait := time.Millisecond * 200
 
 			var sce ErrStatusCode
-			if (sce.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests || sce.StatusCode == http.StatusServiceUnavailable) && errors.As(err, &sce) && sce.Headers != nil {
-				if ra := HasRetryAfter(sce.Headers); ra.IsSome() {
+			if errors.As(err, &sce) && (sce.Response.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests || sce.Response.StatusCode == http.StatusServiceUnavailable) && sce.Response.Header != nil {
+				defer sce.Response.Body.Close()
+
+				if ra := HasRetryAfter(sce.Response.Header); ra.IsSome() {
 					wait = ra.Unwrap()
 				}
 			}
@@ -191,6 +193,13 @@ func (r Retryer) Timeout(timeout time.Duration) Retryer {
 	return r
 }
 
+// DecodeBadStatusCodeResponseBody sets if the response body will be read, in its entirety up to the configured
+// `MaxMemory`, if the status code is not in the expected list and  added to the `ErrStatusCode.Body` error.
+func (r Retryer) DecodeBadStatusCodeResponseBody(b bool) Retryer {
+	r.extractStatusCodeBody = b
+	return r
+}
+
 // DoResponse will execute the provided functions code and automatically retry before returning the *http.Response
 // based on HTTP status code, if defined, and can be used when processing of the response body may not be necessary
 // or something custom is required.
@@ -208,17 +217,22 @@ func (r Retryer) DoResponse(ctx context.Context, fn BuildRequestFn2, expectedRes
 			if req.IsErr() {
 				return Err[*http.Response, error](req.Err())
 			}
+
 			resp, err := r.client.Do(req.Unwrap())
 			if err != nil {
 				return Err[*http.Response, error](err)
 			}
+
 			if len(expectedResponseCodes) > 0 {
 				for _, code := range expectedResponseCodes {
 					if resp.StatusCode == code {
 						goto RETURN
 					}
 				}
-				return Err[*http.Response, error](ErrStatusCode{StatusCode: resp.StatusCode, IsRetryableStatusCode: r.isRetryableStatusCodeFn(ctx, resp.StatusCode), Headers: resp.Header})
+				return Err[*http.Response, error](ErrStatusCode{
+					Response:              resp,
+					IsRetryableStatusCode: r.isRetryableStatusCodeFn(ctx, resp.StatusCode),
+				})
 			}
 
 		RETURN:
@@ -236,15 +250,22 @@ func (r Retryer) Do(ctx context.Context, fn BuildRequestFn2, v any, expectedResp
 		Timeout(r.timeout).
 		IsEarlyReturnFn(r.isEarlyReturnFn).
 		Do(ctx, func(ctx context.Context) Result[typesext.Nothing, error] {
+			closeBody := true
+
 			req := fn(ctx)
 			if req.IsErr() {
 				return Err[typesext.Nothing, error](req.Err())
 			}
+
 			resp, err := r.client.Do(req.Unwrap())
 			if err != nil {
 				return Err[typesext.Nothing, error](err)
 			}
-			defer resp.Body.Close()
+			defer func() {
+				if closeBody {
+					_ = resp.Body.Close()
+				}
+			}()
 
 			if len(expectedResponseCodes) > 0 {
 				for _, code := range expectedResponseCodes {
@@ -252,7 +273,11 @@ func (r Retryer) Do(ctx context.Context, fn BuildRequestFn2, v any, expectedResp
 						goto DECODE
 					}
 				}
-				return Err[typesext.Nothing, error](ErrStatusCode{StatusCode: resp.StatusCode, IsRetryableStatusCode: r.isRetryableStatusCodeFn(ctx, resp.StatusCode), Headers: resp.Header})
+				closeBody = false
+				return Err[typesext.Nothing, error](ErrStatusCode{
+					Response:              resp,
+					IsRetryableStatusCode: r.isRetryableStatusCodeFn(ctx, resp.StatusCode),
+				})
 			}
 
 		DECODE: