diff --git a/lib/base/json.cpp b/lib/base/json.cpp
index fb72a57e7..3eab02799 100644
--- a/lib/base/json.cpp
+++ b/lib/base/json.cpp
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ Value icinga::JsonDecode(const String& data)
 	handle = yajl_alloc(&callbacks, &cfg, NULL, &context);
 #else /* YAJL_MAJOR */
 	handle = yajl_alloc(&callbacks, NULL, &context);
+	yajl_config(handle, yajl_dont_validate_strings, 1);
 #endif /* YAJL_MAJOR */
 
 	yajl_parse(handle, reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char *>(data.CStr()), data.GetLength());