diff --git a/src/json.hpp b/src/json.hpp
index c405ba0c0..dccf768af 100644
--- a/src/json.hpp
+++ b/src/json.hpp
@@ -2476,7 +2476,7 @@ class basic_json
                 unsigned int yyaccept = 0;
                 static const unsigned char yybm[] =
                 {
-                    64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,
+                    0,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,
                     64, 192, 192,  64,  64, 192,  64,  64,
                     64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,
                     64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,  64,
@@ -2650,6 +2650,10 @@ json_parser_7:
 json_parser_8:
                 yyaccept = 0;
                 yych = *(m_marker = ++m_cursor);
+                if (yych <= 0x00)
+                {
+                    goto json_parser_6;
+                }
                 goto json_parser_53;
 json_parser_9:
                 ++m_cursor;
@@ -2955,6 +2959,10 @@ json_parser_53:
                 {
                     goto json_parser_52;
                 }
+                if (yych <= 0x00)
+                {
+                    goto json_parser_29;
+                }
                 if (yych <= '"')
                 {
                     goto json_parser_55;
diff --git a/src/json.hpp.re2c b/src/json.hpp.re2c
index 1bfe3a2d7..63e7e1d5c 100644
--- a/src/json.hpp.re2c
+++ b/src/json.hpp.re2c
@@ -2514,7 +2514,7 @@ class basic_json
                 // string
                 quotation_mark = [\"];
                 escape         = [\\];
-                unescaped      = [^\"\\];
+                unescaped      = [^\"\\\000];
                 escaped        = escape ([\"\\/bfnrt] | [u][0-9a-fA-F]{4});
                 char           = unescaped | escaped;
                 string         = quotation_mark char* quotation_mark;
diff --git a/test/unit.cpp b/test/unit.cpp
index fd1523410..cb6919ee1 100644
--- a/test/unit.cpp
+++ b/test/unit.cpp
@@ -4044,7 +4044,7 @@ TEST_CASE("lexer class")
 
             switch (c)
             {
-                // characters that are prefixes of reasonable json
+                // single characters that are valid tokens
                 case ('['):
                 case (']'):
                 case ('{'):
@@ -4066,12 +4066,6 @@ TEST_CASE("lexer class")
                     break;
                 }
 
-                case ('"'):
-                {
-                    // no idea what to do here
-                    break;
-                }
-
                 // whitespace
                 case (' '):
                 case ('\t'):
@@ -4199,32 +4193,37 @@ TEST_CASE("parser class")
     SECTION("parse errors")
     {
         // unexpected end of number
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("0.A").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("-,").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("-A").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("0.").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("-").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("--").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("-0.").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
 
         // unexpected end of null
         CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("n").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("nA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("nuA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("nulA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("n").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("nu").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("nul").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
 
         // unexpected end of true
         CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("t").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("tA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("trA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("truA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("t").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("tr").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("tru").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
 
         // unexpected end of false
         CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("f").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("faA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("falA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
-        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("falsA").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("fa").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("fal").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("fals").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
 
         // unexpected end of array
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("[1,").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
         CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("[1,]").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
 
         // unexpected end of object
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("{").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("{\"foo\"").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
+        CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("{\"foo\":").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
         CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("{\"foo\":}").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
         CHECK_THROWS_AS(json::parser("{\"foo\":1,}").parse(), std::invalid_argument);
     }