diff --git a/lib/httparty/parsers/json.rb b/lib/httparty/parsers/json.rb
index d4ad627..2bce198 100644
--- a/lib/httparty/parsers/json.rb
+++ b/lib/httparty/parsers/json.rb
@@ -13,12 +13,19 @@ module HTTParty
       end
 
       def self.decode(json)
-        YAML.load(convert_json_to_yaml(json))
+        YAML.load(unescape(convert_json_to_yaml(json)))
       rescue ArgumentError => e
         raise ParseError, "Invalid JSON string"
       end
 
       protected
+
+        def self.unescape(str)
+          str.gsub(/\\u([0-9a-f]{4})/) {
+            [$1.hex].pack("U")
+          }
+        end
+
         # matches YAML-formatted dates
         DATE_REGEX = /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}|\d{4}-\d{1,2}-\d{1,2}[ \t]+\d{1,2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(\.[0-9]*)?(([ \t]*)Z|[-+]\d{2}?(:\d{2})?)?$/
 
diff --git a/spec/httparty/parsers/json_spec.rb b/spec/httparty/parsers/json_spec.rb
index 7b7161a..8dfc8ea 100644
--- a/spec/httparty/parsers/json_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/httparty/parsers/json_spec.rb
@@ -2,18 +2,19 @@ require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'spec_helper')
 
 describe HTTParty::Parsers::JSON do
   TESTS = {
+    %q({"data": "G\u00fcnter"})                   => {"data" => "Günter"},
     %q({"returnTo":{"\/categories":"\/"}})        => {"returnTo" => {"/categories" => "/"}},
     %q({returnTo:{"\/categories":"\/"}})          => {"returnTo" => {"/categories" => "/"}},
     %q({"return\\"To\\":":{"\/categories":"\/"}}) => {"return\"To\":" => {"/categories" => "/"}},
-    %q({"returnTo":{"\/categories":1}})          => {"returnTo" => {"/categories" => 1}},
-    %({"returnTo":[1,"a"]})                    => {"returnTo" => [1, "a"]},
-    %({"returnTo":[1,"\\"a\\",", "b"]})        => {"returnTo" => [1, "\"a\",", "b"]},
-    %({a: "'", "b": "5,000"})                  => {"a" => "'", "b" => "5,000"},
-    %({a: "a's, b's and c's", "b": "5,000"})   => {"a" => "a's, b's and c's", "b" => "5,000"},
-    %({a: "2007-01-01"})                       => {'a' => Date.new(2007, 1, 1)}, 
-    %({a: "2007-01-01 01:12:34 Z"})            => {'a' => Time.utc(2007, 1, 1, 1, 12, 34)}, 
-    # no time zone
-    %({a: "2007-01-01 01:12:34"})              => {'a' => "2007-01-01 01:12:34"}, 
+    %q({"returnTo":{"\/categories":1}})           => {"returnTo" => {"/categories" => 1}},
+    %({"returnTo":[1,"a"]})                       => {"returnTo" => [1, "a"]},
+    %({"returnTo":[1,"\\"a\\",", "b"]})           => {"returnTo" => [1, "\"a\",", "b"]},
+    %({a: "'", "b": "5,000"})                     => {"a" => "'", "b" => "5,000"},
+    %({a: "a's, b's and c's", "b": "5,000"})      => {"a" => "a's, b's and c's", "b" => "5,000"},
+    %({a: "2007-01-01"})                          => {'a' => Date.new(2007, 1, 1)}, 
+    %({a: "2007-01-01 01:12:34 Z"})               => {'a' => Time.utc(2007, 1, 1, 1, 12, 34)}, 
+    # no time zone                                
+    %({a: "2007-01-01 01:12:34"})                 => {'a' => "2007-01-01 01:12:34"}, 
     %([])    => [],
     %({})    => {},
     %(1)     => 1,