diff --git a/src/ping-pull-stream.js b/src/ping-pull-stream.js
index 9c18140e2..a7871faa3 100644
--- a/src/ping-pull-stream.js
+++ b/src/ping-pull-stream.js
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 const toPull = require('stream-to-pull-stream')
 const deferred = require('pull-defer')
+const pump = require('pump')
 const moduleConfig = require('./utils/module-config')
+const PingMessageStream = require('./utils/ping-message-stream')
 
 module.exports = (arg) => {
   const send = moduleConfig(arg)
@@ -18,10 +20,13 @@ module.exports = (arg) => {
       qs: opts
     }
     const p = deferred.source()
+    const response = new PingMessageStream()
 
     send(request, (err, stream) => {
       if (err) { return p.abort(err) }
-      p.resolve(toPull.source(stream))
+
+      pump(stream, response)
+      p.resolve(toPull.source(response))
     })
 
     return p
diff --git a/src/ping-readable-stream.js b/src/ping-readable-stream.js
index 6281a44de..6d2a0e606 100644
--- a/src/ping-readable-stream.js
+++ b/src/ping-readable-stream.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 'use strict'
 
-const Stream = require('readable-stream')
 const pump = require('pump')
 const moduleConfig = require('./utils/module-config')
+const PingMessageStream = require('./utils/ping-message-stream')
 
 module.exports = (arg) => {
   const send = moduleConfig(arg)
@@ -17,17 +17,15 @@ module.exports = (arg) => {
       args: id,
       qs: opts
     }
-    // ndjson streams objects
-    const pt = new Stream.PassThrough({
-      objectMode: true
-    })
+
+    const response = new PingMessageStream()
 
     send(request, (err, stream) => {
-      if (err) { return pt.destroy(err) }
+      if (err) { return response.destroy(err) }
 
-      pump(stream, pt)
+      pump(stream, response)
     })
 
-    return pt
+    return response
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/ping.js b/src/ping.js
index 2682e9752..7372b5761 100644
--- a/src/ping.js
+++ b/src/ping.js
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 'use strict'
 
 const promisify = require('promisify-es6')
+const pump = require('pump')
+const concat = require('concat-stream')
 const moduleConfig = require('./utils/module-config')
-const streamToValue = require('./utils/stream-to-value')
+const PingMessageStream = require('./utils/ping-message-stream')
 
 module.exports = (arg) => {
   const send = moduleConfig(arg)
@@ -30,14 +32,16 @@ module.exports = (arg) => {
 
     // Transform the response stream to a value:
     // [{ Success: <boolean>, Time: <number>, Text: <string> }]
-    const transform = (res, callback) => {
-      streamToValue(res, (err, res) => {
-        if (err) {
-          return callback(err)
+    const transform = (stream, callback) => {
+      const messageConverter = new PingMessageStream()
+      pump(
+        stream,
+        messageConverter,
+        concat({encoding: 'object'}, (data) => callback(null, data)),
+        (err) => {
+          if (err) callback(err)
         }
-
-        callback(null, res)
-      })
+      )
     }
 
     send.andTransform(request, transform, callback)
diff --git a/src/utils/ping-message-converter.js b/src/utils/ping-message-converter.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..79d9fc3be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/ping-message-converter.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+'use strict'
+
+// Converts IPFS API ping messages to lowercase
+//
+// {
+//  Success: true,
+//  Text: 'foobar',
+//  Time: 0
+// }
+//
+
+module.exports = function pingMessageConverter (obj) {
+  if (!isPingMessage(obj)) throw new Error('Invalid ping message received')
+  return {
+    success: obj.Success,
+    time: obj.Time,
+    text: obj.Text
+  }
+}
+
+function isPingMessage (obj) {
+  return obj && typeof obj.Success === 'boolean'
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/ping-message-stream.js b/src/utils/ping-message-stream.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..96516fe9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/ping-message-stream.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+'use strict'
+
+const TransformStream = require('readable-stream').Transform
+const pingMessageConverter = require('./ping-message-converter')
+
+class PingMessageStream extends TransformStream {
+  constructor (options) {
+    const opts = Object.assign(options || {}, { objectMode: true })
+    super(opts)
+  }
+
+  _transform (obj, enc, callback) {
+    try {
+      const msg = pingMessageConverter(obj)
+      this.push(msg)
+    } catch (err) {
+      return callback(err)
+    }
+    callback()
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = PingMessageStream
diff --git a/test/ping.spec.js b/test/ping.spec.js
index 49e96a8b0..e0ec03dc5 100644
--- a/test/ping.spec.js
+++ b/test/ping.spec.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const parallel = require('async/parallel')
 const series = require('async/series')
 
 const IPFSApi = require('../src')
+const PingMessageStream = require('../src/utils/ping-message-stream')
 const f = require('./utils/factory')
 
 describe('.ping', function () {
@@ -77,10 +78,10 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
       expect(res).to.be.an('array')
       expect(res).to.have.lengthOf(3)
       res.forEach(packet => {
-        expect(packet).to.have.keys('Success', 'Time', 'Text')
-        expect(packet.Time).to.be.a('number')
+        expect(packet).to.have.keys('success', 'time', 'text')
+        expect(packet.time).to.be.a('number')
       })
-      const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.Text.includes('Average latency'))
+      const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.text.includes('Average latency'))
       expect(resultMsg).to.exist()
       done()
     })
@@ -92,10 +93,10 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
       expect(res).to.be.an('array')
       expect(res).to.have.lengthOf(4)
       res.forEach(packet => {
-        expect(packet).to.have.keys('Success', 'Time', 'Text')
-        expect(packet.Time).to.be.a('number')
+        expect(packet).to.have.keys('success', 'time', 'text')
+        expect(packet.time).to.be.a('number')
       })
-      const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.Text.includes('Average latency'))
+      const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.text.includes('Average latency'))
       expect(resultMsg).to.exist()
       done()
     })
@@ -107,10 +108,10 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
       expect(res).to.be.an('array')
       expect(res).to.have.lengthOf(4)
       res.forEach(packet => {
-        expect(packet).to.have.keys('Success', 'Time', 'Text')
-        expect(packet.Time).to.be.a('number')
+        expect(packet).to.have.keys('success', 'time', 'text')
+        expect(packet.time).to.be.a('number')
       })
-      const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.Text.includes('Average latency'))
+      const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.text.includes('Average latency'))
       expect(resultMsg).to.exist()
       done()
     })
@@ -131,10 +132,10 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
         expect(res).to.be.an('array')
         expect(res).to.have.lengthOf(3)
         res.forEach(packet => {
-          expect(packet).to.have.keys('Success', 'Time', 'Text')
-          expect(packet.Time).to.be.a('number')
+          expect(packet).to.have.keys('success', 'time', 'text')
+          expect(packet.time).to.be.a('number')
         })
-        const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.Text.includes('Average latency'))
+        const resultMsg = res.find(packet => packet.text.includes('Average latency'))
         expect(resultMsg).to.exist()
       })
   })
@@ -147,10 +148,10 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
         expect(data).to.be.an('array')
         expect(data).to.have.lengthOf(3)
         data.forEach(packet => {
-          expect(packet).to.have.keys('Success', 'Time', 'Text')
-          expect(packet.Time).to.be.a('number')
+          expect(packet).to.have.keys('success', 'time', 'text')
+          expect(packet.time).to.be.a('number')
         })
-        const resultMsg = data.find(packet => packet.Text.includes('Average latency'))
+        const resultMsg = data.find(packet => packet.text.includes('Average latency'))
         expect(resultMsg).to.exist()
         done()
       })
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
     ipfs.pingReadableStream(otherId)
       .on('data', data => {
         expect(data).to.be.an('object')
-        expect(data).to.have.keys('Success', 'Time', 'Text')
+        expect(data).to.have.keys('success', 'time', 'text')
         packetNum++
       })
       .on('error', err => {
@@ -173,4 +174,11 @@ describe('.ping', function () {
         done()
       })
   })
+
+  it('message conversion fails if invalid message is received', () => {
+    const messageConverter = new PingMessageStream()
+    expect(() => {
+      messageConverter.write({some: 'InvalidMessage'})
+    }).to.throw('Invalid ping message received')
+  })
 })