diff --git a/src/defaults/default.js b/src/defaults/default.js
index a7eeb7eb1..bcad1fc43 100644
--- a/src/defaults/default.js
+++ b/src/defaults/default.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  * governing permissions and limitations under the License.
  */
 const winston = require('winston');
+const querystring = require('querystring');
 const Pipeline = require('../pipeline.js');
 
 /**
@@ -44,8 +45,17 @@ const pre = cont => cont;
  * @returns {Object} The original req object that is equivalent to an Express request object,
  * including a headers, method, and params field
  */
-function adaptOWRequest(payload, { logger, request: { params: { req = '{}' } = {} } = {} }) {
+function adaptOWRequest(payload, { logger, request: { headers, method, params: { req = '{}', params = '' } = {} } = {} }) {
   try {
+    if (params !== '') {
+      return {
+        request: {
+          params: querystring.parse(params),
+          headers,
+          method,
+        },
+      };
+    }
     return {
       request: JSON.parse(req),
     };
diff --git a/test/testDefault.js b/test/testDefault.js
index f348d5268..dc823aad3 100644
--- a/test/testDefault.js
+++ b/test/testDefault.js
@@ -44,6 +44,21 @@ describe('Testing Default Pipeline', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('adaptOWRequest needs to parse params parameter', () => {
+    const testObject = {
+      foo: 'foo',
+      bar: 'bar',
+    };
+    const out = adaptOWRequest({}, { request: { params: { params: 'foo=foo&bar=bar' } } });
+    assert.ok(out.request, 'missing request object');
+    assert.deepEqual(testObject, out.request.params, 'request object does not match incoming req');
+  });
+
+  it('adaptOWRequest acts reasonably on wrong params parameter', () => {
+    const out = adaptOWRequest({}, { request: { params: { params: 'this is not url encoded' } } });
+    assert.ok(out.request, 'missing request object');
+  });
+
   it('adaptOWRequest needs to parse req parameter', () => {
     const testObject = {
       url: 'url',