diff --git a/libutils/json.c b/libutils/json.c
index 7df32a23..44d65f21 100644
--- a/libutils/json.c
+++ b/libutils/json.c
@@ -1012,7 +1012,14 @@ void JsonEncodeStringWriter(
             WriterWriteChar(writer, 't');
             break;
         default:
-            WriterWriteChar(writer, *c);
+            if (CharIsPrintableAscii(*c))
+            {
+                WriterWriteChar(writer, *c);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                WriterWriteF(writer, "\\u%04x", (unsigned char) *c);
+            }
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1026,6 +1033,41 @@ char *JsonEncodeString(const char *const unescaped_string)
     return StringWriterClose(writer);
 }
 
+static bool HexStringToChar(const char *hex_string, char *res)
+{
+    assert(hex_string != NULL);
+
+    const int hex_len = 4;
+    if (strlen(hex_string) < hex_len)
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    char tmp[hex_len + 1];
+    memcpy(tmp, hex_string, hex_len);
+    tmp[hex_len] = '\0';
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < hex_len; ++i)
+    {
+        if (!isdigit(tmp[i]) &&
+          !(tmp[i] >= 'A' && tmp[i] <= 'F') &&
+          !(tmp[i] >= 'a' && tmp[i] <= 'f'))
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    char *end;
+    long c = strtol(tmp, &end, 16);
+    if ((*end != '\0') || (c > 255) || (c < 0))
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    *res = (unsigned char) c;
+    return true;
+}
+
 static void JsonDecodeStringWriter(
     const char *const escaped_string, Writer *const w)
 {
@@ -1062,6 +1104,19 @@ static void JsonDecodeStringWriter(
                 WriterWriteChar(w, '\t');
                 c++;
                 break;
+            case 'u':
+                if (c[2] == '\0')
+                {
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                char d;
+                if (HexStringToChar(c + 2, &d))
+                {
+                    WriterWriteF(w, "%c", (unsigned char) d);
+                    c += 5;
+                }
+                break;
             default:
                 WriterWriteChar(w, *c);
                 break;
diff --git a/tests/unit/json_test.c b/tests/unit/json_test.c
index eb129c3c..f93c83a0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/json_test.c
+++ b/tests/unit/json_test.c
@@ -1846,6 +1846,33 @@ static void test_string_escape(void)
     assert_json_strings_eq(
         "Hello, world!\n'Blah', \"blah\".",
         "Hello, world!\\n'Blah', \\\"blah\\\".");
+    assert_json_strings_eq(
+        "Hello blah",
+        "Hello \\u001bblah");
+
+    const char unescaped_short_hex[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', 'u', '0', '0', '\0'};
+    const char escaped_short_hex[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', '\\', 'u', '0', '0', '\0'};
+    assert_json_strings_eq(unescaped_short_hex, escaped_short_hex);
+
+    const char unescaped_invalid_u[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', 'u', '\0'};
+    const char escaped_invalid_u[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', '\\', 'u', '\0'};
+    assert_json_strings_eq(unescaped_invalid_u, escaped_invalid_u);
+
+    const char unescaped_valid_hex[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', 'u', '0', '0', '1', 'b', '\0'};
+    const char escaped_valid_hex[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', '\\', 'u', '0', '0', '1', 'b', '\0'};
+    assert_json_strings_eq(unescaped_valid_hex, escaped_valid_hex);
+
+    const char unescaped_invalid_hex[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', 'u', '0', 'z', '1', 'b', '\0'};
+    const char escaped_invalid_hex[] = {
+        'B', 'l', 'a', 'h', '\\', '\\', 'u', '0', 'z', '1', 'b', '\0'};
+    assert_json_strings_eq(unescaped_invalid_hex, escaped_invalid_hex);
 }
 
 #define assert_json5_data_eq(_size, unescaped, escaped)           \