diff --git a/pizzicore/pizzicore.py b/pizzicore/pizzicore.py
index 30539b1..dc91cd9 100644
--- a/pizzicore/pizzicore.py
+++ b/pizzicore/pizzicore.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import secrets
+import logging
 import dbm
 from collections import defaultdict
 
@@ -9,8 +10,8 @@ from fastapi import (
     HTTPException,
     Depends,
     status,
-    WebSocketDisconnect,
 )
+from starlette.websockets import WebSocketDisconnect
 from fastapi.security import HTTPBasic, HTTPBasicCredentials
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 
@@ -136,8 +137,14 @@ async def websocket_counter(websocket: WebSocket, cid: int):
 
     while True:
         try:
-            await websocket.send_text(str(counter_store.get(cid)))
-        except:
+            val = counter_store.get(cid)
+            await websocket.send_json(Value(counter=cid, value=val).json())
+        except WebSocketDisconnect:
+            logging.debug("client disconnected")
+            manager.unsubscribe(cid, q)
+            return
+        except Exception:
+            logging.exception("unexpected error")
             manager.unsubscribe(cid, q)
             return
         await q.get()