diff --git a/autoload/rhubarb.vim b/autoload/rhubarb.vim
index d9611e5..ac9a04a 100644
--- a/autoload/rhubarb.vim
+++ b/autoload/rhubarb.vim
@@ -75,6 +75,9 @@ function! s:credentials() abort
 endfunction
 
 function! rhubarb#json_parse(string) abort
+  if exists('*json_decode')
+    return json_decode(a:string)
+  endif
   let [null, false, true] = ['', 0, 1]
   let stripped = substitute(a:string,'\C"\(\\.\|[^"\\]\)*"','','g')
   if stripped !~# "[^,:{}\\[\\]0-9.\\-+Eaeflnr-u \n\r\t]"
@@ -87,6 +90,9 @@ function! rhubarb#json_parse(string) abort
 endfunction
 
 function! rhubarb#json_generate(object) abort
+  if exists('*json_encode')
+    return json_encode(a:object)
+  endif
   if type(a:object) == type('')
     return '"' . substitute(a:object, "[\001-\031\"\\\\]", '\=printf("\\u%04x", char2nr(submatch(0)))', 'g') . '"'
   elseif type(a:object) == type([])