diff --git a/firebase.gemspec b/firebase.gemspec
index bef59b9..943071e 100644
--- a/firebase.gemspec
+++ b/firebase.gemspec
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.licenses = ["MIT"]
   s.summary = "Firebase wrapper for Ruby"
 
-  s.add_runtime_dependency 'httpclient', '>= 2.5.3'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'httpclient', '>= 2.8.3'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'json'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'googleauth'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rake'
diff --git a/spec/firebase_spec.rb b/spec/firebase_spec.rb
index 94479be..d41ce62 100644
--- a/spec/firebase_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/firebase_spec.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
     it "sends custom auth query" do
       firebase = Firebase::Client.new('https://test.firebaseio.com', 'secret')
       expect(firebase.request).to receive(:request).with(:get, "todos.json", {
-        :body => nil,
+        :body => "null",
         :query => {:auth => "secret", :foo => 'bar'},
         :follow_redirect => true
       })