diff --git a/src/json.c b/src/json.c
index 8749009a24b..ca9be26cd9f 100644
--- a/src/json.c
+++ b/src/json.c
@@ -1655,9 +1655,9 @@ json_parse_value (struct json_parser *parser, int c)
     return json_parse_number (parser, c);
   else
     {
-      int c2 = json_input_get (parser);
-      int c3 = json_input_get (parser);
-      int c4 = json_input_get (parser);
+      int c2 = json_input_get_if_possible (parser);
+      int c3 = json_input_get_if_possible (parser);
+      int c4 = json_input_get_if_possible (parser);
       int c5 = json_input_get_if_possible (parser);
 
       if (c == 't' && c2 == 'r' && c3 == 'u' && c4 == 'e'
diff --git a/test/src/json-tests.el b/test/src/json-tests.el
index a1bafadaa87..628a5a3de57 100644
--- a/test/src/json-tests.el
+++ b/test/src/json-tests.el
@@ -215,11 +215,9 @@
   (should-error (json-serialize ["u\u00C4\xCCv"]) :type 'wrong-type-argument))
 
 (ert-deftest json-parse-string/short ()
-  :expected-result :failed
   (should-error (json-parse-string "") :type 'json-end-of-file)
   (should-error (json-parse-string " ") :type 'json-end-of-file)
-  ;; BUG: currently results in `json-end-of-file' for short non-empty inputs.
-  (dolist (s '("a" "ab" "abc" "abcd"
+  (dolist (s '("a" "ab" "abc" "abcd" "\0" "\1"
                "t" "tr" "tru" "truE" "truee"
                "n" "nu" "nul" "nulL" "nulll"
                "f" "fa" "fal" "fals" "falsE" "falsee"))