diff --git a/appender.go b/appender.go
index f89a8ed..be8007d 100644
--- a/appender.go
+++ b/appender.go
@@ -269,34 +269,32 @@ func (a *Appender) flush(ctx context.Context, bulkIndexer *bulkIndexer) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	var docsFailed, docsIndexed, tooManyRequests, clientFailed, serverFailed int64
-	for _, item := range resp.Items {
-		for _, info := range item {
-			if info.Error.Type != "" || info.Status > 201 {
-				docsFailed++
-				if info.Status >= 400 && info.Status < 500 {
-					if info.Status == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
-						tooManyRequests++
-					} else {
-						clientFailed++
-					}
-				}
-				if info.Status >= 500 {
-					serverFailed++
-				}
-				// NOTE(axw) error type and reason are included
-				// in the error message so we can observe different
-				// error types/reasons when logging is rate limited.
-				logger.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
-					"failed to index document in '%s' (%s): %s",
-					info.Index, info.Error.Type, info.Error.Reason,
-				))
-
-				if a.tracingEnabled() {
-					apm.CaptureError(ctx, errors.New(info.Error.Reason)).Send()
+	for _, info := range resp {
+		if info.Error.Type != "" || info.Status > 201 {
+			docsFailed++
+			if info.Status >= 400 && info.Status < 500 {
+				if info.Status == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
+					tooManyRequests++
+				} else {
+					clientFailed++
 				}
-			} else {
-				docsIndexed++
 			}
+			if info.Status >= 500 {
+				serverFailed++
+			}
+			// NOTE(axw) error type and reason are included
+			// in the error message so we can observe different
+			// error types/reasons when logging is rate limited.
+			logger.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+				"failed to index document in '%s' (%s): %s",
+				info.Index, info.Error.Type, info.Error.Reason,
+			))
+
+			if a.tracingEnabled() {
+				apm.CaptureError(ctx, errors.New(info.Error.Reason)).Send()
+			}
+		} else {
+			docsIndexed++
 		}
 	}
 	if docsFailed > 0 {
diff --git a/bulk_indexer.go b/bulk_indexer.go
index 3949e7e..67da889 100644
--- a/bulk_indexer.go
+++ b/bulk_indexer.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8"
 	"github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8/esapi"
-	"github.com/goccy/go-json"
+	"github.com/tidwall/gjson"
 )
 
 // At the time of writing, the go-elasticsearch BulkIndexer implementation
@@ -54,12 +54,7 @@ type bulkIndexer struct {
 	copybuf      [32 * 1024]byte
 	writer       io.Writer
 	buf          bytes.Buffer
-	resp         MinimalBulkIndexerResponse
-}
-
-// MinimalBulkIndexerResponse represents a minimal subset of the Elasticsearch _bulk API response.
-type MinimalBulkIndexerResponse struct {
-	Items []map[string]BulkIndexerResponseItem `json:"items,omitempty"`
+	resp         []BulkIndexerResponseItem
 }
 
 // BulkIndexerResponseItem represents the Elasticsearch response item.
@@ -92,7 +87,7 @@ func (b *bulkIndexer) Reset() {
 	if b.gzipw != nil {
 		b.gzipw.Reset(&b.buf)
 	}
-	b.resp = MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{Items: b.resp.Items[:0]}
+	b.resp = b.resp[:0]
 }
 
 // Added returns the number of buffered items.
@@ -151,15 +146,13 @@ func (b *bulkIndexer) writeMeta(index, action, documentID string) {
 }
 
 // Flush executes a bulk request if there are any items buffered, and clears out the buffer.
-func (b *bulkIndexer) Flush(ctx context.Context) (MinimalBulkIndexerResponse, error) {
+func (b *bulkIndexer) Flush(ctx context.Context) ([]BulkIndexerResponseItem, error) {
 	if b.itemsAdded == 0 {
-		return MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{}, nil
+		return nil, nil
 	}
 	if b.gzipw != nil {
 		if err := b.gzipw.Close(); err != nil {
-			return MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{}, fmt.Errorf(
-				"failed closing the gzip writer: %w", err,
-			)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed closing the gzip writer: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -171,7 +164,7 @@ func (b *bulkIndexer) Flush(ctx context.Context) (MinimalBulkIndexerResponse, er
 	bytesFlushed := b.buf.Len()
 	res, err := req.Do(ctx, b.client)
 	if err != nil {
-		return MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{}, err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer res.Body.Close()
 	// Record the number of flushed bytes only when err == nil. The body may
@@ -179,13 +172,39 @@ func (b *bulkIndexer) Flush(ctx context.Context) (MinimalBulkIndexerResponse, er
 	b.bytesFlushed = bytesFlushed
 	if res.IsError() {
 		if res.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
-			return MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{}, errorTooManyRequests{res: res}
+			return nil, errorTooManyRequests{res: res}
 		}
-		return MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{}, fmt.Errorf("flush failed: %s", res.String())
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("flush failed: %s", res.String())
 	}
-	if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&b.resp); err != nil {
-		return MinimalBulkIndexerResponse{}, fmt.Errorf("error decoding bulk response: %w", err)
+
+	rspBody, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading response body: %w", err)
 	}
+
+	gjson.GetBytes(rspBody, "items").ForEach(func(key, value gjson.Result) bool {
+		value.ForEach(func(key, value gjson.Result) bool {
+			item := BulkIndexerResponseItem{
+				Index:  value.Get("_index").String(),
+				Status: int(value.Get("status").Int()),
+			}
+
+			if e := value.Get("error"); e.Exists() {
+				item.Error = struct {
+					Type   string `json:"type"`
+					Reason string `json:"reason"`
+				}{
+					Type:   e.Get("type").String(),
+					Reason: e.Get("reason").String(),
+				}
+			}
+
+			b.resp = append(b.resp, item)
+			return true
+		})
+		return true
+	})
+
 	return b.resp, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index eb2b9b3..87de49a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ go 1.19
 
 require (
 	github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8 v8.8.2
-	github.com/goccy/go-json v0.10.2
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
+	github.com/tidwall/gjson v1.14.4
 	go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmelasticsearch/v2 v2.4.3
 	go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmzap/v2 v2.4.3
 	go.elastic.co/apm/v2 v2.4.3
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.7.3 // indirect
+	github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1 // indirect
+	github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.0 // indirect
 	go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmhttp/v2 v2.4.3 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/atomic v1.7.0 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.6.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 966ae79..5098639 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ github.com/elastic/go-sysinfo v1.7.1/go.mod h1:i1ZYdU10oLNfRzq4vq62BEwD2fH8KaWh6
 github.com/elastic/go-windows v1.0.0/go.mod h1:TsU0Nrp7/y3+VwE82FoZF8gC/XFg/Elz6CcloAxnPgU=
 github.com/elastic/go-windows v1.0.1 h1:AlYZOldA+UJ0/2nBuqWdo90GFCgG9xuyw9SYzGUtJm0=
 github.com/elastic/go-windows v1.0.1/go.mod h1:FoVvqWSun28vaDQPbj2Elfc0JahhPB7WQEGa3c814Ss=
-github.com/goccy/go-json v0.10.2 h1:CrxCmQqYDkv1z7lO7Wbh2HN93uovUHgrECaO5ZrCXAU=
-github.com/goccy/go-json v0.10.2/go.mod h1:6MelG93GURQebXPDq3khkgXZkazVtN9CRI+MGFi0w8I=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.4 h1:L8R9j+yAqZuZjsqh/z+F1NCffTKKLShY6zXTItVIZ8M=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.4/go.mod h1:v8dTdLbMG2kIc/vJvl+f65V22dbkXbowE6jgT/gNBxE=
 github.com/jessevdk/go-flags v1.4.0/go.mod h1:4FA24M0QyGHXBuZZK/XkWh8h0e1EYbRYJSGM75WSRxI=
@@ -37,6 +35,12 @@ github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 h1:CcVxjf3Q8PM0mHUKJCdn+eZZtm5yQwehR5yeSVQQcUk=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4/go.mod h1:sz/lmYIOXD/1dqDmKjjqLyZ2RngseejIcXlSw2iwfAo=
+github.com/tidwall/gjson v1.14.4 h1:uo0p8EbA09J7RQaflQ1aBRffTR7xedD2bcIVSYxLnkM=
+github.com/tidwall/gjson v1.14.4/go.mod h1:/wbyibRr2FHMks5tjHJ5F8dMZh3AcwJEMf5vlfC0lxk=
+github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1 h1:+Ho715JplO36QYgwN9PGYNhgZvoUSc9X2c80KVTi+GA=
+github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1/go.mod h1:eRSPERbgtNPcGhD8UCthc6PmLEQXEWd3PRB5JTxsfmM=
+github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.0 h1:RWIZEg2iJ8/g6fDDYzMpobmaoGh5OLl4AXtGUGPcqCs=
+github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.0/go.mod h1:ITEVvHYasfjBbM0u2Pg8T2nJnzm8xPwvNhhsoaGGjNU=
 go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmelasticsearch/v2 v2.4.3 h1:ahFfYDBPNq6G0Vsqncg3cs0HwcEQ76yKdhQeKKvGPck=
 go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmelasticsearch/v2 v2.4.3/go.mod h1:2kByxP0WjwX/9vRTKGAlqctTr7tQLN7hSfWPNLQJ+eM=
 go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmhttp/v2 v2.4.3 h1:bBqbbtQSEL+uVpH5CS656E9x6pXha8kkZ468/G0T5Eo=