diff --git a/src/rpc.js b/src/rpc.js
index cd2d9e8b..459668a5 100644
--- a/src/rpc.js
+++ b/src/rpc.js
@@ -112,14 +112,23 @@ class RPC {
   * @param {Object} event - The event describing the message.
   */
   onMessage(event) {
-    const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
-    const resolver = this.resolvers[data.id] || {};
-    this.emit('traffic', 'received', data, resolver.handle);
-    if (typeof data.id !== 'undefined' && this.resolvers[data.id]) {
-      this.emit('message', data);
-      this.resolvers[data.id].resolveWith(data);
-    } else {
-      this.emit(data.params ? 'notification' : 'message', data);
+    try {
+      const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
+      const resolver = this.resolvers[data.id] || {};
+      this.emit('traffic', 'received', data, resolver.handle);
+      if (typeof data.id !== 'undefined' && this.resolvers[data.id]) {
+        this.emit('message', data);
+        this.resolvers[data.id].resolveWith(data);
+      } else {
+        this.emit(data.params ? 'notification' : 'message', data);
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      this.emit('socket-error', {
+        type: 'parse-error',
+        message: 'Failed to parse WebSocket message',
+        error,
+        rawData: event.data,
+      });
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/rpc.spec.js b/test/unit/rpc.spec.js
index 427bb291..8b37e658 100644
--- a/test/unit/rpc.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/rpc.spec.js
@@ -194,4 +194,36 @@ describe('RPC', () => {
     expect(errArg.code).to.be.equal(-1);
     expect(errArg.message).to.be.equal('Socket error');
   });
+
+  it('should emit socket-error with parse-error type when receiving malformed JSON', (done) => {
+    const malformedJson = '{"invalid": "json with \x00 control character"}';
+
+    rpc.once('socket-error', (error) => {
+      expect(error.type).to.equal('parse-error');
+      expect(error.message).to.equal('Failed to parse WebSocket message');
+      expect(error.error).to.be.instanceOf(SyntaxError);
+      expect(error.rawData).to.equal(malformedJson);
+      done();
+    });
+
+    rpc.open().then(() => {
+      rpc.socket.message({ data: malformedJson });
+    });
+    rpc.socket.open();
+  });
+
+  it('should not throw when receiving malformed JSON', (done) => {
+    const malformedJson = 'not valid json at all';
+
+    rpc.once('socket-error', () => {
+      // If we reach here without throwing, the test passes
+      done();
+    });
+
+    rpc.open().then(() => {
+      // This should not throw an uncaught exception
+      expect(() => rpc.socket.message({ data: malformedJson })).to.not.throw();
+    });
+    rpc.socket.open();
+  });
 });