diff --git a/app/controllers/api/salmon_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/salmon_controller.rb
index 7fc5e548d6a..f611b48a098 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/salmon_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/salmon_controller.rb
@@ -5,10 +5,8 @@ class Api::SalmonController < ApiController
   respond_to :txt
 
   def update
-    payload = request.body.read
-
-    if !payload.nil? && verify?(payload)
-      SalmonWorker.perform_async(@account.id, payload.force_encoding('UTF-8'))
+    if verify_payload?
+      process_salmon
       head 201
     else
       head 202
@@ -21,7 +19,15 @@ class Api::SalmonController < ApiController
     @account = Account.find(params[:id])
   end
 
-  def verify?(payload)
-    VerifySalmonService.new.call(payload)
+  def payload
+    @_payload ||= request.body.read
+  end
+
+  def verify_payload?
+    payload.present? && VerifySalmonService.new.call(payload)
+  end
+
+  def process_salmon
+    SalmonWorker.perform_async(@account.id, payload.force_encoding('UTF-8'))
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/api/salmon_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/api/salmon_controller_spec.rb
index 6897caeebbe..3e4686200b6 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/api/salmon_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/api/salmon_controller_spec.rb
@@ -13,29 +13,42 @@ RSpec.describe Api::SalmonController, type: :controller do
   end
 
   describe 'POST #update' do
-    before do
-      request.env['RAW_POST_DATA'] = File.read(File.join(Rails.root, 'spec', 'fixtures', 'salmon', 'mention.xml'))
-      post :update, params: { id: account.id }
+    context 'with valid post data' do
+      before do
+        request.env['RAW_POST_DATA'] = File.read(File.join(Rails.root, 'spec', 'fixtures', 'salmon', 'mention.xml'))
+        post :update, params: { id: account.id }
+      end
+
+      it 'contains XML in the request body' do
+        expect(request.body.read).to be_a String
+      end
+
+      it 'returns http success' do
+        expect(response).to have_http_status(:success)
+      end
+
+      it 'creates remote account' do
+        expect(Account.find_by(username: 'gargron', domain: 'quitter.no')).to_not be_nil
+      end
+
+      it 'creates status' do
+        expect(Status.find_by(uri: 'tag:quitter.no,2016-03-20:noticeId=1276923:objectType=note')).to_not be_nil
+      end
+
+      it 'creates mention for target account' do
+        expect(account.mentions.count).to eq 1
+      end
     end
 
-    it 'contains XML in the request body' do
-      expect(request.body.read).to be_a String
-    end
+    context 'with invalid post data' do
+      before do
+        request.env['RAW_POST_DATA'] = ''
+        post :update, params: { id: account.id }
+      end
 
-    it 'returns http success' do
-      expect(response).to have_http_status(:success)
-    end
-
-    it 'creates remote account' do
-      expect(Account.find_by(username: 'gargron', domain: 'quitter.no')).to_not be_nil
-    end
-
-    it 'creates status' do
-      expect(Status.find_by(uri: 'tag:quitter.no,2016-03-20:noticeId=1276923:objectType=note')).to_not be_nil
-    end
-
-    it 'creates mention for target account' do
-      expect(account.mentions.count).to eq 1
+      it 'returns http success' do
+        expect(response).to have_http_status(202)
+      end
     end
   end
 end