diff --git a/java/src/json/ext/StringDecoder.java b/java/src/json/ext/StringDecoder.java
index e35638a4..362a0d68 100644
--- a/java/src/json/ext/StringDecoder.java
+++ b/java/src/json/ext/StringDecoder.java
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ private void handleEscapeSequence(ThreadContext context) throws IOException {
             break;
         default:
             if (allowInvalidEscape) {
-              append(character);
+              writeUtf8Char(character);
             } else {
               throw invalidEscape(context);
             }
diff --git a/test/json/json_parser_test.rb b/test/json/json_parser_test.rb
index 2fd7e274..025bf671 100644
--- a/test/json/json_parser_test.rb
+++ b/test/json/json_parser_test.rb
@@ -223,6 +223,12 @@ def test_parse_invalid_escape
     assert_equal "foo", parse(%("fo\\o"), allow_invalid_escape: true)
   end
 
+  def test_parse_invalid_escape_non_ascii
+    assert_equal "caf\u00e9", parse(%("caf\\\u00e9"), allow_invalid_escape: true)
+    assert_equal "\u3042", parse(%("\\\u3042"), allow_invalid_escape: true)
+    assert_equal "\u{1F600}", parse(%("\\\u{1F600}"), allow_invalid_escape: true)
+  end
+
   def test_parse_arrays
     assert_equal([1,2,3], parse('[1,2,3]'))
     assert_equal([1.2,2,3], parse('[1.2,2,3]'))