diff --git a/docs/2.utils/1.request.md b/docs/2.utils/1.request.md
index 2898df7f6..2dd7bfa80 100644
--- a/docs/2.utils/1.request.md
+++ b/docs/2.utils/1.request.md
@@ -25,18 +25,28 @@ app.get("/", async (event) => {
 });
 ```
 
-### `readBody(event)`
+### `readBody(event, options?)`
 
 Reads request body and tries to parse using JSON.parse or URLSearchParams.
 
+By default the body is parsed as JSON (falling back to URL-encoded parsing when the `Content-Type` is `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`). Other body types, such as `multipart/form-data`, must be opted into explicitly via `options.type` and are never auto-detected from the request headers.
+
 **Example:**
 
 ```ts
-app.get("/", async (event) => {
+app.post("/", async (event) => {
   const body = await readBody(event);
 });
 ```
 
+**Example:**
+
+```ts
+app.post("/upload", async (event) => {
+  const body = await readBody(event, { type: "formData" });
+});
+```
+
 ### `readValidatedBody(event, validate)`
 
 Tries to read the request body via `readBody`, then uses the provided validation schema or function and either throws a validation error or returns the result.
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index db8b62d28..ccbef8654 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ export {
 
 // Body
 
-export { readBody, readValidatedBody, assertBodySize } from "./utils/body.ts";
+export { readBody, readValidatedBody, assertBodySize, type ReadBodyOptions } from "./utils/body.ts";
 
 // Cookie
 
diff --git a/src/utils/body.ts b/src/utils/body.ts
index 0bdd9fdb9..c00da3300 100644
--- a/src/utils/body.ts
+++ b/src/utils/body.ts
@@ -1,40 +1,92 @@
 import { type ErrorDetails, HTTPError } from "../error.ts";
 import { type OnValidateError, validateData } from "./internal/validate.ts";
-import { parseURLEncodedBody } from "./internal/body.ts";
+import { parseURLEncodedBody, parseFormData } from "./internal/body.ts";
 
 import type { HTTPEvent } from "../event.ts";
 import type { InferEventInput } from "../types/handler.ts";
 import type { ValidateResult } from "./internal/validate.ts";
 import type { StandardSchemaV1, FailureResult, InferOutput } from "./internal/standard-schema.ts";
 
+export interface ReadBodyOptions {
+  /**
+   * Force a parser instead of inferring it from the request `Content-Type`.
+   *
+   * - `"json"` (default): parse as JSON.
+   * - `"text"`: return the raw string body.
+   * - `"urlencoded"`: parse as `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`.
+   * - `"formData"`: parse as `multipart/form-data` (or url-encoded) form data.
+   */
+  type?: "json" | "text" | "urlencoded" | "formData";
+}
+
 /**
  * Reads request body and tries to parse using JSON.parse or URLSearchParams.
  *
+ * By default the body is parsed as JSON (falling back to URL-encoded parsing
+ * when the `Content-Type` is `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`). Other body
+ * types, such as `multipart/form-data`, must be opted into explicitly via
+ * `options.type` and are never auto-detected from the request headers.
+ *
  * @example
- * app.get("/", async (event) => {
+ * app.post("/", async (event) => {
  *   const body = await readBody(event);
  * });
+ * @example
+ * app.post("/upload", async (event) => {
+ *   const body = await readBody(event, { type: "formData" });
+ * });
  *
  * @param event H3 event passed by h3 handler
- * @param encoding The character encoding to use, defaults to 'utf-8'.
+ * @param options Parsing options. Set `type` to force a parser instead of
+ *   inferring it from the request `Content-Type`.
  *
- * @return {*} The `Object`, `Array`, `String`, `Number`, `Boolean`, or `null` value corresponding to the request JSON body
+ * @return {*} The `Object`, `Array`, `String`, `Number`, `Boolean`, or `null` value corresponding to the request body
  */
 export async function readBody<
   T,
   _Event extends HTTPEvent = HTTPEvent,
   _T = InferEventInput<"body", _Event, T>,
->(event: _Event): Promise<undefined | _T> {
+>(event: _Event, options?: ReadBodyOptions): Promise<undefined | _T> {
+  const contentType = event.req.headers.get("content-type") || "";
+  const type = options?.type;
+
+  // `formData` (multipart or url-encoded) is strictly opt-in: unlike JSON it
+  // is never auto-detected from the `Content-Type` header, so an untrusted
+  // request cannot push readBody into (potentially expensive) multipart
+  // parsing without the handler explicitly asking for it. See #875.
+  if (type === "formData") {
+    let form: FormData;
+    try {
+      form = await event.req.formData();
+    } catch {
+      throw new HTTPError({
+        status: 400,
+        statusText: "Bad Request",
+        message: "Invalid form data body",
+      });
+    }
+    return parseFormData(form) as _T;
+  }
+
   const text = await event.req.text();
+
+  // Text is returned verbatim, including an empty body as `""`.
+  if (type === "text") {
+    return text as _T;
+  }
+
   if (!text) {
     return undefined;
   }
 
-  const contentType = event.req.headers.get("content-type") || "";
-  if (contentType.startsWith("application/x-www-form-urlencoded")) {
+  if (
+    type === "urlencoded" ||
+    (!type && contentType.startsWith("application/x-www-form-urlencoded"))
+  ) {
     return parseURLEncodedBody(text) as _T;
   }
 
+  // Default, and explicit `type: "json"`.
   try {
     return JSON.parse(text) as _T;
   } catch {
diff --git a/src/utils/internal/body.ts b/src/utils/internal/body.ts
index 0331bd25f..718f4c6ed 100644
--- a/src/utils/internal/body.ts
+++ b/src/utils/internal/body.ts
@@ -1,18 +1,27 @@
 import { EmptyObject } from "./obj.ts";
 import { hasProp } from "./object.ts";
 
-export function parseURLEncodedBody(body: string) {
-  const form = new URLSearchParams(body);
-  const parsedForm: Record<string, any> = new EmptyObject();
-  for (const [key, value] of form.entries()) {
-    if (hasProp(parsedForm, key)) {
-      if (!Array.isArray(parsedForm[key])) {
-        parsedForm[key] = [parsedForm[key]];
+export function parseURLEncodedBody(body: string): unknown {
+  return collectEntries(new URLSearchParams(body).entries());
+}
+
+export function parseFormData(form: FormData): unknown {
+  return collectEntries(form.entries());
+}
+
+// Collect key/value entries into an object, keeping repeated keys as arrays
+// (e.g. multi-selects or `foo=1&foo=2`) instead of dropping earlier values.
+function collectEntries(entries: IterableIterator<[string, unknown]>): unknown {
+  const parsed: Record<string, any> = new EmptyObject();
+  for (const [key, value] of entries) {
+    if (hasProp(parsed, key)) {
+      if (!Array.isArray(parsed[key])) {
+        parsed[key] = [parsed[key]];
       }
-      parsedForm[key].push(value);
+      parsed[key].push(value);
     } else {
-      parsedForm[key] = value;
+      parsed[key] = value;
     }
   }
-  return parsedForm as unknown;
+  return parsed as unknown;
 }
diff --git a/test/body.test.ts b/test/body.test.ts
index 9baf101dd..bf2633b3c 100644
--- a/test/body.test.ts
+++ b/test/body.test.ts
@@ -219,6 +219,126 @@ describeMatrix("body", (t, { it, expect, describe }) => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  describe("readBody with multipart/form-data", () => {
+    // Reusable multipart payload with a repeated `number` field.
+    const multipart = {
+      headers: {
+        "content-type":
+          "multipart/form-data; boundary=---------------------------12537827810750053901680552518",
+      },
+      body: '-----------------------------12537827810750053901680552518\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="field"\r\n\r\nvalue\r\n-----------------------------12537827810750053901680552518\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="number"\r\n\r\n20\r\n-----------------------------12537827810750053901680552518\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name="number"\r\n\r\n30\r\n-----------------------------12537827810750053901680552518--\r\n',
+    };
+
+    it("parses form data into an object when opted in via type: formData", async () => {
+      let _body: any;
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        _body = await readBody(event, { type: "formData" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      const result = await t.fetch("/api/test", { method: "POST", ...multipart });
+      // Repeated keys are preserved as an array, not collapsed to the last value.
+      expect(_body).toMatchObject({ field: "value", number: ["20", "30"] });
+      expect(await result.text()).toBe("200");
+    });
+
+    it("does NOT auto-parse multipart without an explicit opt-in", async () => {
+      // Without `type: "formData"` a multipart body falls through to the JSON
+      // parser and is rejected — parsing form data is never header-driven.
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        await readBody(event);
+        return "200";
+      });
+      const result = await t.fetch("/api/test", { method: "POST", ...multipart });
+      expect(result.status).toBe(400);
+    });
+
+    it("throws a 400 on a malformed multipart body", async () => {
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        await readBody(event, { type: "formData" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      const result = await t.fetch("/api/test", {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: {
+          "content-type": "multipart/form-data; boundary=----broken",
+        },
+        // Body does not match the declared boundary → formData() throws.
+        body: "not a valid multipart body",
+      });
+      expect(result.status).toBe(400);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("readBody with an explicit type", () => {
+    it("type: text returns the raw string, ignoring the content-type", async () => {
+      let _body: any;
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        _body = await readBody(event, { type: "text" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      // JSON content-type, but `type: text` forces the raw string.
+      await t.fetch("/api/test", {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+        body: '{ "hello": true }',
+      });
+      expect(_body).toBe('{ "hello": true }');
+    });
+
+    it("type: text returns an empty string for an empty body", async () => {
+      let _body: any = "unset";
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        _body = await readBody(event, { type: "text" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      await t.fetch("/api/test", { method: "POST" });
+      expect(_body).toBe("");
+    });
+
+    it("type: urlencoded parses regardless of the content-type", async () => {
+      let _body: any;
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        _body = await readBody(event, { type: "urlencoded" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      // No urlencoded content-type, but `type: urlencoded` forces the parser.
+      await t.fetch("/api/test", {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: { "content-type": "text/plain" },
+        body: "field=value&number=20&number=30",
+      });
+      expect(_body).toMatchObject({ field: "value", number: ["20", "30"] });
+    });
+
+    it("type: json parses even when the content-type is urlencoded", async () => {
+      let _body: any;
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        _body = await readBody(event, { type: "json" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      // urlencoded content-type is ignored in favor of the forced JSON parser.
+      await t.fetch("/api/test", {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" },
+        body: '{ "hello": true }',
+      });
+      expect(_body).toMatchObject({ hello: true });
+    });
+
+    it("type: json throws a 400 on an invalid JSON body", async () => {
+      t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {
+        await readBody(event, { type: "json" });
+        return "200";
+      });
+      const result = await t.fetch("/api/test", {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: { "content-type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" },
+        body: "field=value",
+      });
+      expect(result.status).toBe(400);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("returns empty string if body is not present with text/plain", async () => {
     let _body: string | undefined;
     t.app.all("/api/test", async (event) => {