diff --git a/awx/api/serializers.py b/awx/api/serializers.py
index 97edd09762..d61c9d2472 100644
--- a/awx/api/serializers.py
+++ b/awx/api/serializers.py
@@ -4227,6 +4227,28 @@ class NotificationTemplateSerializer(BaseSerializer):
                 error_list.append(_("Field '{}' unavailable".format(exc.message)))
             except SecurityError as exc:
                 error_list.append(_("Security error due to field '{}'".format(exc.message)))
+
+        # Ensure that if a webhook body was provided, that it can be rendered as a dictionary
+        notification_type = ''
+        if self.instance:
+            notification_type = getattr(self.instance, 'notification_type', '')
+        else:
+            notification_type = self.initial_data.get('notification_type', '')
+
+        if notification_type == 'webhook':
+            for event in messages:
+                if not messages[event]:
+                    continue
+                body = messages[event].get('body', {})
+                if body:
+                    try:
+                        potential_body = json.loads(body)
+                        if not isinstance(potential_body, dict):
+                            error_list.append(_("Webhook body for '{}' should be a json dictionary. Found type '{}'."
+                                                .format(event, type(potential_body).__name__)))
+                    except json.JSONDecodeError as exc:
+                        error_list.append(_("Webhook body for '{}' is not a valid json dictionary ({}).".format(event, exc)))
+
         if error_list:
             raise serializers.ValidationError(error_list)
 
diff --git a/awx/main/notifications/webhook_backend.py b/awx/main/notifications/webhook_backend.py
index 1f29fe8bca..92cddf4b3b 100644
--- a/awx/main/notifications/webhook_backend.py
+++ b/awx/main/notifications/webhook_backend.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2016 Ansible, Inc.
 # All Rights Reserved.
 
+import json
 import logging
 import requests
 
@@ -37,6 +38,15 @@ class WebhookBackend(AWXBaseEmailBackend):
         super(WebhookBackend, self).__init__(fail_silently=fail_silently)
 
     def format_body(self, body):
+        # If `body` has body field, attempt to use this as the main body,
+        # otherwise, leave it as a sub-field
+        if isinstance(body, dict) and 'body' in body and isinstance(body['body'], str):
+            try:
+                potential_body = json.loads(body['body'])
+                if isinstance(potential_body, dict):
+                    body = potential_body
+            except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                pass
         return body
 
     def send_messages(self, messages):