diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-dependencies/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-contract-dependencies/pom.xml
index 0759f3c197..68c43fe577 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-dependencies/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-dependencies/pom.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 	<description>Spring Cloud Contract Dependencies</description>
 	<properties>
 		<wiremock.version>2.1.7</wiremock.version>
-		<jsonassert.version>0.4.8</jsonassert.version>
+		<jsonassert.version>0.4.9</jsonassert.version>
 		<aether.version>1.0.2.v20150114</aether.version>
 	</properties>
 	<dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/plugin/SpringCloudContractVerifierGradlePlugin.groovy b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/plugin/SpringCloudContractVerifierGradlePlugin.groovy
index 8f41b979ee..6b7c96820c 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/plugin/SpringCloudContractVerifierGradlePlugin.groovy
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/plugin/SpringCloudContractVerifierGradlePlugin.groovy
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class SpringCloudContractVerifierGradlePlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
 	//TODO: Deprecate this since starting with 1.1.x
 	private void addProjectDependencies(Project project) {
 		project.dependencies.add("testCompile", "com.github.tomakehurst:wiremock:2.1.7")
-		project.dependencies.add("testCompile", "com.toomuchcoding.jsonassert:jsonassert:0.4.8")
+		project.dependencies.add("testCompile", "com.toomuchcoding.jsonassert:jsonassert:0.4.9")
 		project.dependencies.add("testCompile", "org.assertj:assertj-core:2.3.0")
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/complex-configuration/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/complex-configuration/pom.xml
index 2ef9310d56..48bd2113ec 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/complex-configuration/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/complex-configuration/pom.xml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.toomuchcoding.jsonassert</groupId>
             <artifactId>jsonassert</artifactId>
-            <version>0.4.8</version>
+            <version>0.4.9</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/plugin-extension/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/plugin-extension/pom.xml
index e03b81bc7a..ba6ff15852 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/plugin-extension/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/plugin-extension/pom.xml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.toomuchcoding.jsonassert</groupId>
             <artifactId>jsonassert</artifactId>
-            <version>0.4.8</version>
+            <version>0.4.9</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-groovy/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-groovy/pom.xml
index a0dc42aa9d..2aaf275a43 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-groovy/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-groovy/pom.xml
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.toomuchcoding.jsonassert</groupId>
             <artifactId>jsonassert</artifactId>
-            <version>0.4.8</version>
+            <version>0.4.9</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <!-- end::dependencies[] -->
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-java/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-java/pom.xml
index e03b81bc7a..ba6ff15852 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-java/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin/src/test/projects/spring-boot-java/pom.xml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.toomuchcoding.jsonassert</groupId>
             <artifactId>jsonassert</artifactId>
-            <version>0.4.8</version>
+            <version>0.4.9</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/builder/MethodBodyBuilderSpec.groovy b/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/builder/MethodBodyBuilderSpec.groovy
index 26314cd5d6..cd0c1c9c55 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/builder/MethodBodyBuilderSpec.groovy
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/builder/MethodBodyBuilderSpec.groovy
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import spock.lang.Issue
 import spock.lang.Shared
 import spock.lang.Specification
 
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
+
 class MethodBodyBuilderSpec extends Specification implements WireMockStubVerifier {
 
 	@Rule OutputCapture capture = new OutputCapture()
@@ -153,4 +155,56 @@ DocumentContext parsedJson = JsonPath.parse(json);
 			"JaxRsClientJUnitMethodBodyBuilder"                  | { Contract dsl -> new JaxRsClientJUnitMethodBodyBuilder(dsl, properties) }
 	}
 
+	@Issue('#289')
+	def "should fail on nonexistent field [#methodBuilderName]"() {
+		given:
+		Contract contractDsl = Contract.make {
+			request {
+				method 'GET'
+				url '/something'
+				headers {
+					contentType(applicationJson())
+				}
+			}
+			response {
+				status 200
+				headers {
+					contentType(applicationJson())
+				}
+				body([
+						doesNotExist: $(p(anyAlphaUnicode()), c("123"))
+				])
+			}
+		}
+			MethodBodyBuilder builder = methodBuilder(contractDsl)
+			BlockBuilder blockBuilder = new BlockBuilder(" ")
+		when:
+			builder.appendTo(blockBuilder)
+			def test = blockBuilder.toString()
+		then:
+			SyntaxChecker.tryToCompile(methodBuilderName, blockBuilder.toString())
+		and:
+			String jsonSample = '''\
+String json = "{}";
+DocumentContext parsedJson = JsonPath.parse(json);
+'''
+		and:
+			LinkedList<String> lines = [] as LinkedList<String>
+			test.eachLine { if (it.contains('assertThatJson')) lines << it else it }
+			lines.addFirst(jsonSample)
+			try {
+				SyntaxChecker.tryToRun(methodBuilderName, lines.join("\n"))
+			} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
+				assert e.message.contains("Parsed JSON [{}] doesn't match the JSON path")
+			} catch (InvocationTargetException e1) {
+				assert e1.cause.message.contains("Parsed JSON [{}] doesn't match the JSON path")
+			}
+		where:
+			methodBuilderName                                    | methodBuilder
+			"MockMvcSpockMethodBuilder"                          | { Contract dsl -> new MockMvcSpockMethodRequestProcessingBodyBuilder(dsl, properties) }
+			"MockMvcJUnitMethodBuilder"                          | { Contract dsl -> new MockMvcJUnitMethodBodyBuilder(dsl, properties) }
+			"JaxRsClientSpockMethodRequestProcessingBodyBuilder" | { Contract dsl -> new JaxRsClientSpockMethodRequestProcessingBodyBuilder(dsl, properties) }
+			"JaxRsClientJUnitMethodBodyBuilder"                  | { Contract dsl -> new JaxRsClientJUnitMethodBodyBuilder(dsl, properties) }
+	}
+
 }