diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6e85d6f..4253967 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 /tests/test_charcase
 /tests/test_compare
 /tests/test_double_serializer
+/tests/test_float
 /tests/test_locale
 /tests/test_null
 /tests/test_parse
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
 /tests/test_util_file
 /tests/test_visit
 /tests/test_json_pointer
+/tests/test_utf8
 /tests/*.vg.out
 /tests/*.log
 /tests/*.trs
diff --git a/json_object.c b/json_object.c
index 139d857..d8e3b67 100644
--- a/json_object.c
+++ b/json_object.c
@@ -105,13 +105,30 @@ get_string_component(const struct json_object *jso)
 
 static int json_escape_str(struct printbuf *pb, const char *str, int len, int flags)
 {
-	int pos = 0, start_offset = 0;
+	int pos = 0, start_offset = 0, utf8_start = 0, utf8_end = 0;
 	unsigned char c;
 	while (len--)
 	{
 		c = str[pos];
-		switch(c)
-		{
+		if (utf8_end > pos) {
+			// Expecting a continuation byte.
+			if (c >= 0x80 && c <= 0xBf) {
+				// Found the continuation byte.
+				goto utf8_loop_end;
+			} else {
+				// Invalid byte.
+				if(utf8_start - start_offset > 0)
+					printbuf_memappend(pb, str + start_offset, utf8_start - start_offset);
+				printbuf_memappend(pb, "\xEF\xBF\xBD", 3);
+				start_offset = pos;
+				utf8_end = pos; // get out of the UTF-8 state
+				goto utf8_reset;
+			}
+		}
+
+utf8_reset:
+		switch(c) {
+
 		case '\b':
 		case '\n':
 		case '\r':
@@ -122,7 +139,6 @@ static int json_escape_str(struct printbuf *pb, const char *str, int len, int fl
 		case '/':
 			if((flags & JSON_C_TO_STRING_NOSLASHESCAPE) && c == '/')
 			{
-				pos++;
 				break;
 			}
 
@@ -138,7 +154,7 @@ static int json_escape_str(struct printbuf *pb, const char *str, int len, int fl
 			else if(c == '\\') printbuf_memappend(pb, "\\\\", 2);
 			else if(c == '/') printbuf_memappend(pb, "\\/", 2);
 
-			start_offset = ++pos;
+			start_offset = pos + 1;
 			break;
 		default:
 			if(c < ' ')
@@ -150,12 +166,45 @@ static int json_escape_str(struct printbuf *pb, const char *str, int len, int fl
 				sprintbuf(pb, "\\u00%c%c",
 				json_hex_chars[c >> 4],
 				json_hex_chars[c & 0xf]);
-				start_offset = ++pos;
-			} else
-				pos++;
+				start_offset = pos + 1;
+			} else if (c >= 0x80) {
+				// Expecting a start byte.
+				if (c >= 0xC2 && c <= 0xDF) {
+					// 2-byte start byte.
+					utf8_start = pos;
+					utf8_end = pos + 2;
+				} else if (c >= 0xE0 && c <= 0xEF) {
+					// 3-byte start byte.
+					utf8_start = pos;
+					utf8_end = pos + 3;
+				} else if (c >= 0xF0 && c <= 0xF4) {
+					// 4-byte start byte.
+					utf8_start = pos;
+					utf8_end = pos + 4;
+				} else {
+					// Invalid byte.
+					if(pos - start_offset > 0)
+						printbuf_memappend(pb,
+								   str + start_offset,
+								   pos - start_offset);
+					printbuf_memappend(pb, "\xEF\xBF\xBD", 3);
+					start_offset = pos + 1;
+				}
+			} else {
+				// Some other valid ASCII character.
+			}
+			break;
 		}
+
+utf8_loop_end:
+		pos++;
+	}
+	if (utf8_end > pos) {
+		if(utf8_start - start_offset > 0)
+			printbuf_memappend(pb, str + start_offset, utf8_start - start_offset);
+		printbuf_memappend(pb, "\xEF\xBF\xBD", 3);
 	}
-	if (pos - start_offset > 0)
+	else if (pos - start_offset > 0)
 		printbuf_memappend(pb, str + start_offset, pos - start_offset);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 824ed30..5aa317c 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ TESTS+= test_compare.test
 TESTS+= test_set_value.test
 TESTS+= test_visit.test
 TESTS+= test_json_pointer.test
+TESTS+= test_utf8.test
 
 check_PROGRAMS=
 check_PROGRAMS += $(TESTS:.test=)
diff --git a/tests/test_utf8.c b/tests/test_utf8.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0823105
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utf8.c
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "json.h"
+
+int main() {
+	const char inputs[][20] = {
+		"\0",  // empty string
+		"AbC;dE\0",  // ASCII string
+		"\xE2\x82\xAC\0",  // A single valid UTF-8
+		"Ab\xE2\x82\xAC;dE\0",  // Valid UTF-8 in context
+		"Ab\xFF;dE\0",  // One illegal byte
+		"Ab\xE2;dE\0",  // One invalid start byte
+		"Ab\xE2\xE2;dE\0",  // Two invalid start bytes
+		"Ab\xE2\xE2\xE2;dE\0",  // Three invalid start bytes
+		"Ab\xE2\xE2...\xE2;dE\0",  // Two disjoint invalid sequences
+		"Ab\xE2\x82\xFF;dE\0",  // First two bytes are OK but not the third
+		"Ab\xE2\x82\xFF\xE2;dE\0",  // Like above but with another start byte
+		"\xE2\0",  // A start byte that "overhangs" the end
+		"A\xFD\0",  // Normal ASCII character with invalid byte at end
+	};
+	const char outputs[][30] = {
+		"\"\"\0",
+		"\"AbC;dE\"\0",
+		"\"\xE2\x82\xAC\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xE2\x82\xAC;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD...\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"Ab\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD\xEF\xBF\xBD;dE\"\0",
+		"\"\xEF\xBF\xBD\"",
+		"\"A\xEF\xBF\xBD\"",
+	};
+	const size_t num_cases = 13;
+
+	int errcode = 0;
+
+	for (size_t i=0; i<num_cases; i++) {
+		const char* in = inputs[i];
+		const char* expected = outputs[i];
+		const size_t expected_len = strlen(expected);
+
+		json_object* strobj = json_object_new_string(in);
+		const char* actual = json_object_to_json_string(strobj);
+		size_t actual_len = strlen(actual);
+
+		if (expected_len != actual_len) {
+			printf("FAIL ON CASE %d: expected length %d but got %d\n",
+				(int)i, (int)expected_len, (int)actual_len);
+			printf("%s\n", actual);
+			errcode = 1;
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+
+		if (memcmp(expected, actual, actual_len) != 0) {
+			printf("FAIL ON CASE %d: expected '%s' but got '%s'\n",
+				(int)i, expected, actual);
+			errcode = 2;
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+
+		printf("PASS CASE %d\n", (int)i);
+
+cleanup:
+		json_object_put(strobj);
+	}
+
+	return errcode;
+}
diff --git a/tests/test_utf8.expected b/tests/test_utf8.expected
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79863eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utf8.expected
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+PASS CASE 0
+PASS CASE 1
+PASS CASE 2
+PASS CASE 3
+PASS CASE 4
+PASS CASE 5
+PASS CASE 6
+PASS CASE 7
+PASS CASE 8
+PASS CASE 9
+PASS CASE 10
+PASS CASE 11
+PASS CASE 12
diff --git a/tests/test_utf8.test b/tests/test_utf8.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b55a721
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utf8.test
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Common definitions
+if test -z "$srcdir"; then
+    srcdir="${0%/*}"
+    test "$srcdir" = "$0" && srcdir=.
+    test -z "$srcdir" && srcdir=.
+fi
+. "$srcdir/test-defs.sh"
+
+run_output_test test_utf8
+exit $?