diff --git a/api/operator.go b/api/operator.go
index e84dd1d4c..de9fbd7fc 100644
--- a/api/operator.go
+++ b/api/operator.go
@@ -305,21 +305,20 @@ func (op *Operator) LicenseGet(q *QueryOptions) (*LicenseReply, *QueryMeta, erro
 	return &reply, qm, nil
 }
 
-func (op *Operator) Metrics(q *QueryOptions) (string, error) {
+func (op *Operator) Metrics(q *QueryOptions) ([]byte, error) {
 	if q == nil {
 		q = &QueryOptions{}
 	}
 
 	metricsReader, err := op.c.rawQuery("/v1/metrics", q)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	metricsBytes, err := ioutil.ReadAll(metricsReader)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	metrics := string(metricsBytes[:])
-	return metrics, nil
+	return metricsBytes, nil
 }
diff --git a/command/metrics.go b/command/metrics.go
index 43805c7e2..5ceb39778 100644
--- a/command/metrics.go
+++ b/command/metrics.go
@@ -88,12 +88,14 @@ func (c *OperatorMetricsCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 		Params: params,
 	}
 
-	resp, err := client.Operator().Metrics(query)
+	bs, err := client.Operator().Metrics(query)
 	if err != nil {
 		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error getting metrics: %v", err))
 		return 1
 	}
 
+	resp := string(bs[:])
 	c.Ui.Output(resp)
+
 	return 0
 }
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/operator.go b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/operator.go
index e84dd1d4c..de9fbd7fc 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/operator.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/operator.go
@@ -305,21 +305,20 @@ func (op *Operator) LicenseGet(q *QueryOptions) (*LicenseReply, *QueryMeta, erro
 	return &reply, qm, nil
 }
 
-func (op *Operator) Metrics(q *QueryOptions) (string, error) {
+func (op *Operator) Metrics(q *QueryOptions) ([]byte, error) {
 	if q == nil {
 		q = &QueryOptions{}
 	}
 
 	metricsReader, err := op.c.rawQuery("/v1/metrics", q)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	metricsBytes, err := ioutil.ReadAll(metricsReader)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	metrics := string(metricsBytes[:])
-	return metrics, nil
+	return metricsBytes, nil
 }