diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 83821e9..f9f4900 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ The standard jquery.autocomplete.js file is around 2.7KB when minified via Closu
         * `transformResult`: `function(response) {}` called after the result of the query is ready. Converts the result into response.suggestions format.
 		* `autoSelectFirst`: if set to `true`, first item will be selected when showing suggestions. Default value `false`.
 		* `appendTo`: container where suggestions will be appended. Default value `body`. Can be jQuery object, selector or html element. Make sure to set `position: absolute` or `position: relative` for that element.
+    * `dataType`: type of data returned from server. Either 'text' (default) or 'jsonp', which will cause the autocomplete to use jsonp. You may return a json object in your callback when using jsonp.
 
 ##Usage
 
diff --git a/src/jquery.autocomplete.js b/src/jquery.autocomplete.js
index 4b422e3..8708c1c 100644
--- a/src/jquery.autocomplete.js
+++ b/src/jquery.autocomplete.js
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@
                 onSearchComplete: noop,
                 containerClass: 'autocomplete-suggestions',
                 tabDisabled: false,
+                dataType : 'text',
                 lookupFilter: function (suggestion, originalQuery, queryLowerCase) {
                     return suggestion.value.toLowerCase().indexOf(queryLowerCase) !== -1;
                 },
@@ -406,7 +407,7 @@
                     url: options.serviceUrl,
                     data: options.params,
                     type: options.type,
-                    dataType: 'text'
+                    dataType: options.dataType
                 }).done(function (txt) {
                     that.processResponse(txt);
                     options.onSearchComplete.call(that.element, q);
@@ -476,7 +477,7 @@
 
         processResponse: function (text) {
             var that = this,
-                response = $.parseJSON(text);
+                response = typeof text == 'string' ? $.parseJSON(text) : text;
 
             response.suggestions = that.verifySuggestionsFormat(that.options.transformResult(response));