diff --git a/Libraries/WebSocket/RCTWebSocketModule.m b/Libraries/WebSocket/RCTWebSocketModule.m
index a1933533194126..e0d85734025fe5 100644
--- a/Libraries/WebSocket/RCTWebSocketModule.m
+++ b/Libraries/WebSocket/RCTWebSocketModule.m
@@ -76,8 +76,18 @@ - (void)dealloc
 
 - (void)webSocket:(RCTSRWebSocket *)webSocket didReceiveMessage:(id)message
 {
+
+  NSString * type;
+  if ([message isKindOfClass:[NSData class]]) {
+    type = @"binary";
+    message = [message base64EncodedStringWithOptions:0];
+  } else {
+    type = @"text";
+  }
+
   [_bridge.eventDispatcher sendDeviceEventWithName:@"websocketMessage" body:@{
     @"data": message,
+    @"type": type,
     @"id": webSocket.reactTag
   }];
 }
diff --git a/Libraries/WebSocket/WebSocket.js b/Libraries/WebSocket/WebSocket.js
index 3ce40bc6772824..9906f0256dabcc 100644
--- a/Libraries/WebSocket/WebSocket.js
+++ b/Libraries/WebSocket/WebSocket.js
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ var Platform = require('Platform');
 var WebSocketBase = require('WebSocketBase');
 var WebSocketEvent = require('WebSocketEvent');
 
+var base64 = require('base64-js');
+
 var WebSocketId = 0;
 var CLOSE_NORMAL = 1000;
 
@@ -78,9 +80,20 @@ class WebSocket extends WebSocketBase {
         if (ev.id !== id) {
           return;
         }
-        var event = new WebSocketEvent('message', {
-          data: ev.data
-        });
+
+        var message;
+
+        if (ev.type === 'text') {
+          message = {
+            data: ev.data
+          };
+        } else if (ev.type === 'binary') {
+          message = {
+            data: base64.toByteArray(ev.data).buffer
+          };
+        }
+
+        var event = new WebSocketEvent('message', message);
         this.onmessage && this.onmessage(event);
         this.dispatchEvent(event);
       }),
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5be50c910962f8..0cfe98c90f245f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@
     "babel-polyfill": "^6.0.16",
     "babel-types": "^6.1.2",
     "babylon": "^6.1.2",
+    "base64-js": "0.0.8",
     "bser": "^1.0.2",
     "chalk": "^1.1.1",
     "connect": "^2.8.3",