diff --git a/src/taskgraph/util/taskcluster.py b/src/taskgraph/util/taskcluster.py
index a8e6e2e6f..cec8a8f0e 100644
--- a/src/taskgraph/util/taskcluster.py
+++ b/src/taskgraph/util/taskcluster.py
@@ -73,15 +73,17 @@ def get_taskcluster_client(service: str):
 def _handle_artifact(
     path: str, response: Union[requests.Response, dict[str, Any]]
 ) -> Any:
-    if isinstance(response, dict):
-        # When taskcluster client returns non-JSON responses, it wraps them in {"response": <Response>}
-        if "response" in response and isinstance(
-            response["response"], requests.Response
-        ):
-            response = response["response"]
-        else:
-            # If we already a dict (parsed JSON), return it directly.
-            return response
+    # When taskcluster client returns non-JSON responses, it wraps them in {"response": <Response>}
+    if (
+        isinstance(response, dict)
+        and "response" in response
+        and isinstance(response["response"], requests.Response)
+    ):
+        response = response["response"]
+
+    if not isinstance(response, requests.Response):
+        # At this point, if we don't have a response object, it's already parsed, return it
+        return response
 
     # We have a response object, load the content based on the path extension.
     if path.endswith(".json"):
diff --git a/test/test_util_taskcluster.py b/test/test_util_taskcluster.py
index 6f98a0df4..d6e97aaa2 100644
--- a/test/test_util_taskcluster.py
+++ b/test/test_util_taskcluster.py
@@ -124,6 +124,17 @@ def test_get_artifact(responses, root_url):
     result = tc.get_artifact(tid, "artifact.json")
     assert result == {"foo": "bar"}
 
+    # Test JSON artifact that isn't a dict (bug 1997236)
+    responses.get("http://foo.bar/artifact.json", json=[1, 2, 3])
+    responses.get(
+        f"{root_url}/api/queue/v1/task/{tid}/artifacts/artifact.json",
+        body=b'{"type": "s3", "url": "http://foo.bar/artifact.json"}',
+        status=303,
+        headers={"Location": "http://foo.bar/artifact.json"},
+    )
+    result = tc.get_artifact(tid, "artifact.json")
+    assert result == [1, 2, 3]
+
     # Test YAML artifact
     expected_result = {"foo": b"\xe2\x81\x83".decode()}
     responses.get(