diff --git a/include/chaiscript/utility/json.hpp b/include/chaiscript/utility/json.hpp
index 25be353a..aa8fe698 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/utility/json.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/utility/json.hpp
@@ -460,17 +460,35 @@ namespace chaiscript::json {
               val += '\t';
               break;
             case 'u': {
-              val += "\\u";
+              std::string hex_matches;
               for (size_t i = 1; i <= 4; ++i) {
                 c = str.at(offset + i);
                 if ((c >= '0' && c <= '9') || (c >= 'a' && c <= 'f') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'F')) {
-                  val += c;
+                  hex_matches += c;
                 } else {
                   throw std::runtime_error(
                       std::string("JSON ERROR: String: Expected hex character in unicode escape, found '") + c + "'");
                 }
               }
               offset += 4;
+              const auto ch = static_cast<uint32_t>(std::stoi(hex_matches, nullptr, 16));
+              if (ch < 0x80) {
+                val += static_cast<char>(ch);
+              } else if (ch < 0x800) {
+                val += static_cast<char>(0xC0 | (ch >> 6));
+                val += static_cast<char>(0x80 | (ch & 0x3F));
+              } else if (ch < 0x10000) {
+                val += static_cast<char>(0xE0 | (ch >> 12));
+                val += static_cast<char>(0x80 | ((ch >> 6) & 0x3F));
+                val += static_cast<char>(0x80 | (ch & 0x3F));
+              } else if (ch < 0x200000) {
+                val += static_cast<char>(0xF0 | (ch >> 18));
+                val += static_cast<char>(0x80 | ((ch >> 12) & 0x3F));
+                val += static_cast<char>(0x80 | ((ch >> 6) & 0x3F));
+                val += static_cast<char>(0x80 | (ch & 0x3F));
+              } else {
+                throw std::runtime_error(std::string("JSON ERROR: String: Invalid 32 bit universal character"));
+              }
             } break;
             default:
               val += '\\';