diff --git a/jira/client.py b/jira/client.py
index af6bf498d..fec48d9cf 100644
--- a/jira/client.py
+++ b/jira/client.py
@@ -2634,6 +2634,10 @@ def my_permissions(
     ) -> Dict[str, Dict[str, Dict[str, str]]]:
         """Get a dict of all available permissions on the server.
 
+        ``permissions`` is a comma-separated value list of permission keys that is
+        required in Jira Cloud. For possible and allowable permission values, see
+        https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v3/api-group-permission-schemes/#built-in-permissions
+
         Args:
             projectKey (Optional[str]): limit returned permissions to the specified project
             projectId (Optional[str]): limit returned permissions to the specified project
diff --git a/jira/resilientsession.py b/jira/resilientsession.py
index 039b449ed..fa138a36f 100644
--- a/jira/resilientsession.py
+++ b/jira/resilientsession.py
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ def _jira_prepare(self, **original_kwargs) -> dict:
         request_headers.update(original_kwargs.get("headers", {}))
         prepared_kwargs["headers"] = request_headers
 
-        data = original_kwargs.get("data", {})
+        data = original_kwargs.get("data", None)
         if isinstance(data, dict):
             # mypy ensures we don't do this,
             # but for people subclassing we should preserve old behaviour
diff --git a/tests/test_resilientsession.py b/tests/test_resilientsession.py
index 22e875228..9191bcb0b 100644
--- a/tests/test_resilientsession.py
+++ b/tests/test_resilientsession.py
@@ -107,3 +107,22 @@ def test_passthrough_class():
     # WHEN: the dict of request args are prepared
     # THEN: The exact same dict is returned
     assert passthrough_class.prepare(my_kwargs) is my_kwargs
+
+
+@patch("requests.Session.request")
+def test_unspecified_body_remains_unspecified(mocked_request_method: Mock):
+    # Disable retries for this test.
+    session = jira.resilientsession.ResilientSession(max_retries=0)
+    # Data is not specified here.
+    session.get(url="mocked_url")
+    kwargs = mocked_request_method.call_args.kwargs
+    assert "data" not in kwargs
+
+
+@patch("requests.Session.request")
+def test_nonempty_body_is_forwarded(mocked_request_method: Mock):
+    # Disable retries for this test.
+    session = jira.resilientsession.ResilientSession(max_retries=0)
+    session.get(url="mocked_url", data={"some": "fake-data"})
+    kwargs = mocked_request_method.call_args.kwargs
+    assert kwargs["data"] == '{"some": "fake-data"}'
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index 0f6f1e897..7eeb346cf 100755
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -157,8 +157,6 @@ def test_fields(self):
 class MyPermissionsServerTests(JiraTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         super().setUp()
-        if self.jira._is_cloud:
-            self.skipTest("server only test class")
         self.issue_1 = self.test_manager.project_b_issue1
 
     def test_my_permissions(self):
@@ -214,6 +212,10 @@ def test_my_permissions_by_issue(self):
         )
         self.assertEqual(len(perms["permissions"]), 3)
 
+    def test_missing_required_param_my_permissions_raises_exception(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(JIRAError):
+            self.jira.my_permissions()
+
     def test_invalid_param_my_permissions_raises_exception(self):
         with self.assertRaises(JIRAError):
             self.jira.my_permissions("INVALID_PERMISSION")