diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4dca6644..640a0916 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -221,6 +221,20 @@ SendGrid offers extra features on top of regular SMTP email like transactional
 templates with substitution tags. See
 [Bamboo.SendGridHelper](https://hexdocs.pm/bamboo/Bamboo.SendGridHelper.html).
 
+## JSON support
+
+Postgrex comes with JSON support out of the box via the [Poison](https://github.com/devinus/poison) library. To use it, add `:poison` to your dependencies:
+
+```elixir
+{:poison, ">= 1.5.0"}
+```
+
+You can customize it to use another library via the `:json_library` configuration:
+
+```elixir
+config :bamboo, :json_library, SomeOtherLib
+```
+
 ## Testing
 
 You can use the Bamboo.TestAdapter along with [Bamboo.Test] to make testing your
diff --git a/lib/bamboo.ex b/lib/bamboo.ex
index 2b753b0e..9fd9076b 100644
--- a/lib/bamboo.ex
+++ b/lib/bamboo.ex
@@ -41,4 +41,8 @@ defmodule Bamboo do
     opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: Bamboo.Supervisor]
     Supervisor.start_link(children, opts)
   end
+
+  def json_library do
+    Application.get_env(:bamboo, :json_library, Poison)
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/bamboo/adapters/mandrill_adapter.ex b/lib/bamboo/adapters/mandrill_adapter.ex
index 5a4e7193..746b8653 100644
--- a/lib/bamboo/adapters/mandrill_adapter.ex
+++ b/lib/bamboo/adapters/mandrill_adapter.ex
@@ -29,12 +29,12 @@ defmodule Bamboo.MandrillAdapter do
 
   def deliver(email, config) do
     api_key = get_key(config)
-    params = email |> convert_to_mandrill_params(api_key) |> Poison.encode!()
+    params = email |> convert_to_mandrill_params(api_key) |> Bamboo.json_library().encode!()
     uri = [base_uri(), "/", api_path(email)]
 
     case :hackney.post(uri, headers(), params, [:with_body]) do
       {:ok, status, _headers, response} when status > 299 ->
-        filtered_params = params |> Poison.decode!() |> Map.put("key", "[FILTERED]")
+        filtered_params = params |> Bamboo.json_library().decode!() |> Map.put("key", "[FILTERED]")
         raise_api_error(@service_name, response, filtered_params)
 
       {:ok, status, headers, response} ->
diff --git a/lib/bamboo/adapters/send_grid_adapter.ex b/lib/bamboo/adapters/send_grid_adapter.ex
index d41dd3d6..9ef15e08 100644
--- a/lib/bamboo/adapters/send_grid_adapter.ex
+++ b/lib/bamboo/adapters/send_grid_adapter.ex
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@ defmodule Bamboo.SendGridAdapter do
 
   def deliver(email, config) do
     api_key = get_key(config)
-    body = email |> to_sendgrid_body(config) |> Poison.encode!()
+    body = email |> to_sendgrid_body(config) |> Bamboo.json_library().encode!()
     url = [base_uri(), @send_message_path]
 
     case :hackney.post(url, headers(api_key), body, [:with_body]) do
       {:ok, status, _headers, response} when status > 299 ->
-        filtered_params = body |> Poison.decode!() |> Map.put("key", "[FILTERED]")
+        filtered_params = body |> Bamboo.json_library().decode!() |> Map.put("key", "[FILTERED]")
         raise_api_error(@service_name, response, filtered_params)
 
       {:ok, status, headers, response} ->
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 20ff4b38..cbe539d7 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ defmodule Bamboo.Mixfile do
   # Type "mix help compile.app" for more information
   def application do
     [
-      applications: [:logger, :hackney, :poison],
+      applications: [:logger, :hackney],
       mod: {Bamboo, []}
     ]
   end
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ defmodule Bamboo.Mixfile do
       {:ex_doc, "~> 0.19", only: :dev},
       {:earmark, ">= 0.0.0", only: :dev},
       {:hackney, ">= 1.13.0"},
-      {:poison, ">= 1.5.0"}
+      {:poison, ">= 1.5.0", optional: true},
     ]
   end
 end