diff --git a/core/matchers/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/Matching.kt b/core/matchers/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/Matching.kt
index c9643fe75c..789db47446 100644
--- a/core/matchers/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/Matching.kt
+++ b/core/matchers/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/Matching.kt
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ object Matching : KLogging() {
   fun matchBodyContents(expected: HttpPart, actual: HttpPart): List<BodyMismatch> {
     val matcher = expected.matchingRules.rulesForCategory("body").matchingRules["$"]
     return when {
-      matcher != null -> domatch(matcher, listOf("$"), expected.body.unwrap(), actual.body.unwrap(), BodyMismatchFactory)
+      matcher != null && matcher.canMatch(expected.determineContentType()) ->
+        domatch(matcher, listOf("$"), expected.body.unwrap(), actual.body.unwrap(), BodyMismatchFactory)
       expected.body.unwrap().contentEquals(actual.body.unwrap()) -> emptyList()
       else -> listOf(BodyMismatch(expected.body.unwrap(), actual.body.unwrap(),
         "Actual body '${actual.body.valueAsString()}' is not equal to the expected body " +
diff --git a/core/matchers/src/test/groovy/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/MatchingSpec.groovy b/core/matchers/src/test/groovy/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/MatchingSpec.groovy
index ab38e4f8f8..bfbb7d18e0 100644
--- a/core/matchers/src/test/groovy/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/MatchingSpec.groovy
+++ b/core/matchers/src/test/groovy/au/com/dius/pact/core/matchers/MatchingSpec.groovy
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.Request
 import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.Response
 import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.matchingrules.ContentTypeMatcher
 import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.matchingrules.MatchingRulesImpl
+import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.matchingrules.TypeMatcher
 import spock.lang.Specification
 
 class MatchingSpec extends Specification {
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ class MatchingSpec extends Specification {
     actual = new Response(200, [:], OptionalBody.body('hello'.bytes))
   }
 
-  def 'Body Matching - compares the body with aby defined matcher'() {
+  def 'Body Matching - compares the body with any defined matcher'() {
     given:
     def matchingRulesImpl = new MatchingRulesImpl()
     matchingRulesImpl.addCategory('body').addRule('$', new ContentTypeMatcher('image/jpeg'))
@@ -129,4 +130,20 @@ class MatchingSpec extends Specification {
     then:
     result.empty
   }
+
+  def 'Body Matching - only use a matcher that can handle the body type'() {
+    given:
+    def matchingRulesImpl = new MatchingRulesImpl()
+    matchingRulesImpl.addCategory('body').addRule('$', TypeMatcher.INSTANCE)
+    def expected = new Response(200, ['Content-Type': ['image/jpeg']], OptionalBody.body('hello'.bytes),
+      matchingRulesImpl)
+    def actual = new Response(200, [:], OptionalBody.body(MatchingSpec.getResourceAsStream('/RAT.JPG').bytes))
+
+    when:
+    def result = Matching.INSTANCE.matchBody(expected, actual, false)
+
+    then:
+    !result.empty
+    result[0].mismatch.endsWith("is not equal to the expected body 'hello'")
+  }
 }
diff --git a/core/model/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/model/matchingrules/MatchingRules.kt b/core/model/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/model/matchingrules/MatchingRules.kt
index 1ba21ff25f..3a86ff9a4f 100644
--- a/core/model/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/model/matchingrules/MatchingRules.kt
+++ b/core/model/src/main/kotlin/au/com/dius/pact/core/model/matchingrules/MatchingRules.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package au.com.dius.pact.core.model.matchingrules
 
+import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.ContentType
 import au.com.dius.pact.core.model.PactSpecVersion
 import mu.KLogging
 import java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ enum class RuleLogic {
  */
 interface MatchingRule {
   fun toMap(spec: PactSpecVersion): Map<String, Any?>
+  fun canMatch(contentType: ContentType): Boolean = false
 }
 
 /**
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ data class DateMatcher @JvmOverloads constructor(val format: String = "yyyy-MM-d
  */
 object EqualsMatcher : MatchingRule {
   override fun toMap(spec: PactSpecVersion) = mapOf("match" to "equality")
+  override fun canMatch(contentType: ContentType) = true
 }
 
 /**
@@ -37,6 +40,7 @@ object EqualsMatcher : MatchingRule {
  */
 data class IncludeMatcher(val value: String) : MatchingRule {
   override fun toMap(spec: PactSpecVersion) = mapOf("match" to "include", "value" to value)
+  override fun canMatch(contentType: ContentType) = true
 }
 
 /**
@@ -124,6 +128,7 @@ object ValuesMatcher : MatchingRule {
  */
 data class ContentTypeMatcher @JvmOverloads constructor (val contentType: String) : MatchingRule {
   override fun toMap(spec: PactSpecVersion) = mapOf("match" to "contentType", "value" to contentType)
+  override fun canMatch(contentType: ContentType) = true
 }
 
 data class MatchingRuleGroup @JvmOverloads constructor(
@@ -138,6 +143,8 @@ data class MatchingRuleGroup @JvmOverloads constructor(
     }
   }
 
+  fun canMatch(contentType: ContentType) = rules.all { it.canMatch(contentType) }
+
   companion object : KLogging() {
     fun fromMap(map: Map<String, Any?>): MatchingRuleGroup {
       var ruleLogic = RuleLogic.AND