diff --git a/lib/testutil.js b/lib/testutil.js
index b0527080..efb8603c 100644
--- a/lib/testutil.js
+++ b/lib/testutil.js
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ var addTarget = (exports.addTarget = function (proxy, path, port, websocket, tar
     wss.on("connection", function (ws) {
       ws.on("message", function (message) {
         var reply = extend({}, data);
-        reply.message = message;
+        reply.message = message.toString();
         ws.send(JSON.stringify(reply));
       });
       ws.send("connected");
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 5da00577..fd3e519e 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
         "nyc": "^15.0.0",
         "request": "^2.87.0",
         "request-promise-native": "^1.0.4",
-        "ws": "^7.0.0"
+        "ws": "^8.4.0"
       },
       "engines": {
         "node": ">= 10.0"
@@ -2515,12 +2515,12 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/ws": {
-      "version": "7.5.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ws/-/ws-7.5.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-kQ/dHIzuLrS6Je9+uv81ueZomEwH0qVYstcAQ4/Z93K8zeko9gtAbttJWzoC5ukqXY1PpoouV3+VSOqEAFt5wg==",
+      "version": "8.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ws/-/ws-8.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-IHVsKe2pjajSUIl4KYMQOdlyliovpEPquKkqbwswulszzI7r0SfQrxnXdWAEqOlDCLrVSJzo+O1hAwdog2sKSQ==",
       "dev": true,
       "engines": {
-        "node": ">=8.3.0"
+        "node": ">=10.0.0"
       },
       "peerDependencies": {
         "bufferutil": "^4.0.1",
@@ -4568,9 +4568,9 @@
       }
     },
     "ws": {
-      "version": "7.5.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ws/-/ws-7.5.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-kQ/dHIzuLrS6Je9+uv81ueZomEwH0qVYstcAQ4/Z93K8zeko9gtAbttJWzoC5ukqXY1PpoouV3+VSOqEAFt5wg==",
+      "version": "8.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ws/-/ws-8.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-IHVsKe2pjajSUIl4KYMQOdlyliovpEPquKkqbwswulszzI7r0SfQrxnXdWAEqOlDCLrVSJzo+O1hAwdog2sKSQ==",
       "dev": true,
       "requires": {}
     },
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 05c7f4b0..f2304ce4 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     "nyc": "^15.0.0",
     "request": "^2.87.0",
     "request-promise-native": "^1.0.4",
-    "ws": "^7.0.0"
+    "ws": "^8.4.0"
   },
   "engines": {
     "node": ">= 10.0"
diff --git a/test/proxy_spec.js b/test/proxy_spec.js
index a659f10c..8827d006 100644
--- a/test/proxy_spec.js
+++ b/test/proxy_spec.js
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ describe("Proxy Tests", function () {
     });
     var nmsgs = 0;
     ws.on("message", function (msg) {
+      msg = msg.toString();
       if (nmsgs === 0) {
         expect(msg).toEqual("connected");
       } else {