diff --git a/aws-lambda-haskell-runtime.cabal b/aws-lambda-haskell-runtime.cabal
--- a/aws-lambda-haskell-runtime.cabal
+++ b/aws-lambda-haskell-runtime.cabal
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 -- hash: f12bd3188248690adb9f0c4972dd66cb983b9057555d14205384c600255cb999
 
 name:           aws-lambda-haskell-runtime
-version:        3.0.1
+version:        3.0.2
 synopsis:       Haskell runtime for AWS Lambda
 description:    Please see the README on GitHub at <https://github.com/theam/aws-lambda-haskell-runtime#readme>
 category:       AWS
diff --git a/src/Aws/Lambda/Utilities.hs b/src/Aws/Lambda/Utilities.hs
--- a/src/Aws/Lambda/Utilities.hs
+++ b/src/Aws/Lambda/Utilities.hs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import Data.Aeson
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Char8 as LazyByteString
 import Data.Text
-import qualified Data.Text as T
+import qualified Data.Text.Encoding as T
 
 toJSONText :: ToJSON a => a -> Text
-toJSONText = T.pack . LazyByteString.unpack . encode
+toJSONText = T.decodeUtf8 . LazyByteString.toStrict . encode