diff --git a/connexion/decorators/validation.py b/connexion/decorators/validation.py
index ab0c91345..85ad721c7 100644
--- a/connexion/decorators/validation.py
+++ b/connexion/decorators/validation.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import functools
 import logging
 import sys
+from urllib.parse import parse_qs
 
 import six
 from jsonschema import Draft4Validator, ValidationError, draft4_format_checker
@@ -106,6 +107,19 @@ def validate_formdata_parameter_list(self, request):
         spec_params = self.schema.get('properties', {}).keys()
         return validate_parameter_list(request_params, spec_params)
 
+    def parse_body_parameters(self, body, encoding="ascii"):
+        parsed_body = parse_qs(body.decode(encoding))
+        # Flatten the parameters and take only the first value
+        params = dict()
+        for key,value in parsed_body.items():
+            valen = len(value)
+            if valen:
+                if valen<=1:
+                    params[key] = value[0] # flatten single element lists
+                else:
+                    params[key] = value # leave multi-valued lists intact
+        return params
+
     def __call__(self, function):
         """
         :type function: types.FunctionType
@@ -143,7 +157,8 @@ def wrapper(request):
                 if error and not self.has_default:
                     return error
             elif self.consumes[0] in FORM_CONTENT_TYPES:
-                data = dict(request.form.items()) or (request.body if len(request.body) > 0 else {})
+                data = dict(request.form.items()) or \
+                       (self.parse_body_parameters(request.body) if len(request.body) > 0 else {})
                 data.update(dict.fromkeys(request.files, ''))  # validator expects string..
                 logger.debug('%s validating schema...', request.url)
 
diff --git a/connexion/operations/openapi.py b/connexion/operations/openapi.py
index 6b185b1f9..8b6ab602d 100644
--- a/connexion/operations/openapi.py
+++ b/connexion/operations/openapi.py
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ def body_definition(self):
         return {}
 
     def _get_body_argument(self, body, arguments, has_kwargs, sanitize):
-        x_body_name = self.body_schema.get('x-body-name', 'body')
+        x_body_name = self.body_schema.get('x-body-name', 'request_body')
         if is_nullable(self.body_schema) and is_null(body):
             return {x_body_name: None}