diff --git a/activities/services/search.py b/activities/services/search.py
index 4807f24..8ed05e6 100644
--- a/activities/services/search.py
+++ b/activities/services/search.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-import json
-
 import httpx
 
 from activities.models import Hashtag, Post
+from core.json import json_from_response
 from core.ld import canonicalise
 from users.models import Domain, Identity, IdentityStates
 from users.models.system_actor import SystemActor
@@ -17,32 +16,6 @@ class SearchService:
         self.query = query.strip()
         self.identity = identity
 
-    def _json(self, response: httpx.Response) -> dict | None:
-        content_type, *parameters = (
-            response.headers.get("Content-Type", "invalid").lower().split(";")
-        )
-
-        if content_type not in [
-            "application/json",
-            "application/ld+json",
-            "application/activity+json",
-        ]:
-            return None
-
-        charset = None
-
-        for parameter in parameters:
-            key, value = parameter.split("=")
-            if key.strip() == "charset":
-                charset = value.strip()
-
-        if charset:
-            return json.loads(response.content.decode(charset))
-        else:
-            # if no charset informed, default to
-            # httpx json encoding inference
-            return response.json()
-
     def search_identities_handle(self) -> set[Identity]:
         """
         Searches for identities by their handles
@@ -110,7 +83,7 @@ class SearchService:
         if response.status_code >= 400:
             return None
 
-        json_data = self._json(response)
+        json_data = json_from_response(response)
         if not json_data:
             return None
 
diff --git a/core/json.py b/core/json.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a71e97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/json.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import json
+
+from httpx import Response
+
+JSON_CONTENT_TYPES = [
+    "application/json",
+    "application/ld+json",
+    "application/activity+json",
+]
+
+
+def json_from_response(response: Response) -> dict | None:
+    content_type, *parameters = (
+        response.headers.get("Content-Type", "invalid").lower().split(";")
+    )
+
+    if content_type not in JSON_CONTENT_TYPES:
+        return None
+
+    charset = None
+
+    for parameter in parameters:
+        key, value = parameter.split("=")
+        if key.strip() == "charset":
+            charset = value.strip()
+
+    if charset:
+        return json.loads(response.content.decode(charset))
+    else:
+        # if no charset informed, default to
+        # httpx json for encoding inference
+        return response.json()
diff --git a/tests/api/test_search.py b/tests/api/test_search.py
index 0cbf825..389535f 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_search.py
+++ b/tests/api/test_search.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ test_account_json = r"""
    "featuredTags":"https://search.example.com/users/searchtest/collections/tags",
    "preferredUsername":"searchtest",
    "name":"searchtest",
-   "summary":"<p>The official searchtest account for the instance.</p>",
+   "summary":"<p>Just a test (àáâãäåæ)</p>",
    "url":"https://search.example.com/@searchtest",
    "manuallyApprovesFollowers":false,
    "discoverable":true,
@@ -113,3 +113,4 @@ def test_search(
     assert len(response["accounts"]) == 1
     assert response["accounts"][0]["acct"] == "searchtest@search.example.com"
     assert response["accounts"][0]["username"] == "searchtest"
+    assert response["accounts"][0]["note"] == "<p>Just a test (àáâãäåæ)</p>"
diff --git a/users/models/identity.py b/users/models/identity.py
index 9e80226..63edc48 100644
--- a/users/models/identity.py
+++ b/users/models/identity.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ from lxml import etree
 
 from core.exceptions import ActorMismatchError
 from core.html import ContentRenderer, FediverseHtmlParser
+from core.json import json_from_response
 from core.ld import (
     canonicalise,
     format_ld_date,
@@ -878,8 +879,11 @@ class Identity(StatorModel):
                     "Client error fetching actor: %d %s", status_code, self.actor_uri
                 )
             return False
+        json_data = json_from_response(response)
+        if not json_data:
+            return False
         try:
-            document = canonicalise(response.json(), include_security=True)
+            document = canonicalise(json_data, include_security=True)
         except ValueError:
             # servers with empty or invalid responses are inevitable
             logger.info(