diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fd420c583..9b9f29364 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@snapshot-labs/snapshot.js",
-  "version": "0.11.22",
+  "version": "0.11.23",
   "repository": "snapshot-labs/snapshot.js",
   "license": "MIT",
   "main": "dist/snapshot.cjs.js",
diff --git a/src/utils.spec.js b/src/utils.spec.js
index 25c3bc9ef..b33648b27 100644
--- a/src/utils.spec.js
+++ b/src/utils.spec.js
@@ -78,13 +78,14 @@ describe('utils', () => {
 
     describe('when passing valid args', () => {
       test('send a JSON-RPC payload to score-api', async () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_validate({})).resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://score.snapshot.org',
+          'https://score.snapshot.org/',
           expect.objectContaining({
             body: JSON.stringify({
               jsonrpc: '2.0',
@@ -96,13 +97,14 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       });
 
       test('send a POST request with JSON content-type', async () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_validate({})).resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://score.snapshot.org',
+          'https://score.snapshot.org/',
           expect.objectContaining({
             method: 'POST',
             headers: {
@@ -114,23 +116,28 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       });
 
       test('can customize the score-api url', () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(
           _validate({ options: { url: 'https://snapshot.org/?apiKey=xxx' } })
         ).resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://snapshot.org/?apiKey=xxx',
-          expect.anything()
+          'https://snapshot.org/',
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            headers: expect.objectContaining({
+              'X-API-KEY': 'xxx'
+            })
+          })
         );
       });
 
       test('returns the JSON-RPC result property', () => {
         const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(result))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_validate({})).resolves.toEqual('OK');
@@ -141,7 +148,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('rejects with the JSON-RPC error object', () => {
         const result = { error: { message: 'Oh no' } };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(result))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_validate({})).rejects.toEqual(result.error);
@@ -152,7 +159,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('rejects with the error', () => {
         const result = new Error('Oh no');
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => {
+          text: () => {
             throw result;
           }
         });
@@ -196,7 +203,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
         network ?? payload.network,
         addresses ?? payload.addresses,
         snapshot ?? payload.snapshot,
-        scoreApiUrl ?? 'https://score.snapshot.org',
+        scoreApiUrl ?? 'https://score.snapshot.org/',
         options ?? {}
       );
     }
@@ -239,8 +246,9 @@ describe('utils', () => {
 
     describe('when passing valid args', () => {
       test('send a JSON-RPC payload to score-api', async () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getScores({})).resolves;
@@ -253,8 +261,9 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       });
 
       test('send a POST request with JSON content-type', async () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getScores({})).resolves;
@@ -270,23 +279,29 @@ describe('utils', () => {
         );
       });
 
-      test('can customize the score-api url', () => {
+      test('can customize the score-api url and if apiKey should be passed in headers', () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getScores({ scoreApiUrl: 'https://snapshot.org/?apiKey=xxx' }))
           .resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://snapshot.org/api/scores?apiKey=xxx',
-          expect.anything()
+          'https://snapshot.org/api/scores',
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            headers: expect.objectContaining({
+              'X-API-KEY': 'xxx'
+            })
+          })
         );
       });
 
       test('returns the JSON-RPC result scores property', () => {
         const result = { scores: 'SCORES', other: 'Other' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result }))
+          text: () =>
+            new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify({ result })))
         });
 
         expect(_getScores({})).resolves.toEqual('SCORES');
@@ -295,7 +310,8 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('returns the JSON-RPC all properties', () => {
         const result = { scores: 'SCORES', other: 'Other' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result }))
+          text: () =>
+            new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify({ result })))
         });
 
         expect(
@@ -308,7 +324,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('rejects with the JSON-RPC error object', () => {
         const result = { error: { message: 'Oh no' } };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(result))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getScores({})).rejects.toEqual(result.error);
@@ -319,7 +335,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('rejects with the error', () => {
         const result = new Error('Oh no');
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => {
+          text: () => {
             throw result;
           }
         });
@@ -391,13 +407,14 @@ describe('utils', () => {
 
     describe('when passing valid args', () => {
       test('send a JSON-RPC payload to score-api', async () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getVp({})).resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://score.snapshot.org',
+          'https://score.snapshot.org/',
           expect.objectContaining({
             body: JSON.stringify({
               jsonrpc: '2.0',
@@ -409,13 +426,14 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       });
 
       test('send a POST request with JSON content-type', async () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getVp({})).resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://score.snapshot.org',
+          'https://score.snapshot.org/',
           expect.objectContaining({
             method: 'POST',
             headers: {
@@ -427,13 +445,14 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       });
 
       test('can customize the score-api url', () => {
+        const result = { result: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result: 'OK' }))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getVp({ options: { url: 'https://snapshot.org' } })).resolves;
         expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-          'https://snapshot.org',
+          'https://snapshot.org/',
           expect.anything()
         );
       });
@@ -441,7 +460,8 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('returns the JSON-RPC result property', () => {
         const result = { data: 'OK' };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve({ result }))
+          text: () =>
+            new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify({ result })))
         });
 
         expect(_getVp({})).resolves.toEqual(result);
@@ -452,7 +472,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('rejects with the JSON-RPC error object', () => {
         const result = { error: { message: 'Oh no' } };
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(result))
+          text: () => new Promise((resolve) => resolve(JSON.stringify(result)))
         });
 
         expect(_getVp({})).rejects.toEqual(result.error);
@@ -463,7 +483,7 @@ describe('utils', () => {
       test('rejects with the error', () => {
         const result = new Error('Oh no');
         fetch.mockReturnValue({
-          json: () => {
+          text: () => {
             throw result;
           }
         });
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 98adddfee..111220845 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import getDelegatesBySpace, { SNAPSHOT_SUBGRAPH_URL } from './utils/delegation';
 
 interface Options {
   url?: string;
+  headers?: any;
 }
 
 interface Strategy {
@@ -38,6 +39,43 @@ const scoreApiHeaders = {
   'Content-Type': 'application/json'
 };
 
+const DEFAULT_SCORE_API_URL = 'https://score.snapshot.org';
+
+function formatScoreAPIUrl(
+  url = DEFAULT_SCORE_API_URL,
+  options = {
+    path: ''
+  }
+) {
+  const scoreURL = new URL(url);
+  if (options.path) scoreURL.pathname = options.path;
+  const apiKey = scoreURL.searchParams.get('apiKey');
+  let headers: any = { ...scoreApiHeaders };
+  if (apiKey) {
+    scoreURL.searchParams.delete('apiKey');
+    headers = { ...scoreApiHeaders, 'X-API-KEY': apiKey };
+  }
+  return {
+    url: scoreURL.toString(),
+    headers
+  };
+}
+
+async function parseScoreAPIResponse(res: any) {
+  let data: any = await res.text();
+  try {
+    data = JSON.parse(data);
+  } catch (e) {
+    return Promise.reject({
+      code: res.status || 500,
+      message: 'Failed to parse response from score API',
+      data
+    });
+  }
+  if (data.error) return Promise.reject(data.error);
+  return data;
+}
+
 const ajv = new Ajv({
   allErrors: true,
   allowUnionTypes: true,
@@ -135,7 +173,6 @@ ajv.addKeyword({
   errors: true
 });
 
-
 // Custom URL format to allow empty string values
 // https://github.com/snapshot-labs/snapshot.js/pull/541/files
 ajv.addFormat('customUrl', {
@@ -287,7 +324,7 @@ export async function getScores(
   network: string,
   addresses: string[],
   snapshot: number | string = 'latest',
-  scoreApiUrl = 'https://score.snapshot.org',
+  scoreApiUrl = DEFAULT_SCORE_API_URL,
   options: any = {}
 ) {
   if (!Array.isArray(addresses)) {
@@ -317,9 +354,11 @@ export async function getScores(
     );
   }
 
-  const url = new URL(scoreApiUrl);
-  url.pathname = '/api/scores';
-  scoreApiUrl = url.toString();
+  const urlObject = new URL(scoreApiUrl);
+  urlObject.pathname = '/api/scores';
+  const { url, headers } = formatScoreAPIUrl(scoreApiUrl, {
+    path: '/api/scores'
+  });
 
   try {
     const params = {
@@ -329,20 +368,16 @@ export async function getScores(
       strategies,
       addresses
     };
-    const res = await fetch(scoreApiUrl, {
+    const res = await fetch(url, {
       method: 'POST',
-      headers: scoreApiHeaders,
+      headers,
       body: JSON.stringify({ params })
     });
-    const obj = await res.json();
-
-    if (obj.error) {
-      return Promise.reject(obj.error);
-    }
+    const response = await parseScoreAPIResponse(res);
 
     return options.returnValue === 'all'
-      ? obj.result
-      : obj.result[options.returnValue || 'scores'];
+      ? response.result
+      : response.result[options.returnValue || 'scores'];
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.errno) {
       return Promise.reject({ code: e.errno, message: e.toString(), data: '' });
@@ -360,8 +395,7 @@ export async function getVp(
   delegation: boolean,
   options?: Options
 ) {
-  if (!options) options = {};
-  if (!options.url) options.url = 'https://score.snapshot.org';
+  const { url, headers } = formatScoreAPIUrl(options?.url);
   if (!isValidAddress(address)) {
     return inputError(`Invalid voter address: ${address}`);
   }
@@ -385,7 +419,7 @@ export async function getVp(
 
   const init = {
     method: 'POST',
-    headers: scoreApiHeaders,
+    headers,
     body: JSON.stringify({
       jsonrpc: '2.0',
       method: 'get_vp',
@@ -401,10 +435,9 @@ export async function getVp(
   };
 
   try {
-    const res = await fetch(options.url, init);
-    const json = await res.json();
-    if (json.error) return Promise.reject(json.error);
-    if (json.result) return json.result;
+    const res = await fetch(url, init);
+    const response = await parseScoreAPIResponse(res);
+    return response.result;
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.errno) {
       return Promise.reject({ code: e.errno, message: e.toString(), data: '' });
@@ -420,7 +453,7 @@ export async function validate(
   network: string,
   snapshot: number | 'latest',
   params: any,
-  options: any
+  options?: Options
 ) {
   if (!isValidAddress(author)) {
     return inputError(`Invalid author: ${author}`);
@@ -436,10 +469,11 @@ export async function validate(
   }
 
   if (!options) options = {};
-  if (!options.url) options.url = 'https://score.snapshot.org';
+  const { url, headers } = formatScoreAPIUrl(options.url);
+
   const init = {
     method: 'POST',
-    headers: scoreApiHeaders,
+    headers,
     body: JSON.stringify({
       jsonrpc: '2.0',
       method: 'validate',
@@ -455,10 +489,9 @@ export async function validate(
   };
 
   try {
-    const res = await fetch(options.url, init);
-    const json = await res.json();
-    if (json.error) return Promise.reject(json.error);
-    return json.result;
+    const res = await fetch(url, init);
+    const response = await parseScoreAPIResponse(res);
+    return response.result;
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.errno) {
       return Promise.reject({ code: e.errno, message: e.toString(), data: '' });
diff --git a/test/e2e/utils/getScores.spec.ts b/test/e2e/utils/getScores.spec.ts
index b806edbf6..e7a03beba 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils/getScores.spec.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/utils/getScores.spec.ts
@@ -29,4 +29,23 @@ describe('test getScores', () => {
       data: ''
     });
   });
+  
+  test('getScores should not pass API Key if it is passed in URL', async () => {
+    expect.assertions(1);
+    await expect(
+      getScores(
+        'test.eth',
+        [],
+        '1',
+        ['0x9e8f6CF284Db7a80646D9d322A37b3dAF461F8DD'],
+        'latest',
+        'https://score-null.snapshot.org?apiKey=123'
+      )
+    ).to.rejects.toEqual({
+      code: 'ENOTFOUND',
+      message:
+        'FetchError: request to https://score-null.snapshot.org/api/scores failed, reason: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND score-null.snapshot.org',
+      data: ''
+    });
+  });
 });