diff --git a/parson.c b/parson.c
index e6c2cc6..70fbde4 100644
--- a/parson.c
+++ b/parson.c
@@ -1004,6 +1004,9 @@ JSON_Value * json_parse_string(const char *string) {
     if (string == NULL) {
         return NULL;
     }
+    if (string[0] == '\xEF' && string[1] == '\xBB' && string[2] == '\xBF') {
+        string = string + 3; /* Support for UTF-8 BOM */
+    }
     return parse_value((const char**)&string, 0);
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_2.txt b/tests/test_2.txt
index b8c7350..160e7d7 100644
--- a/tests/test_2.txt
+++ b/tests/test_2.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{
+{
     "string" : "lorem ipsum",
     "utf string" : "\u006corem\u0020ipsum",
     "utf-8 string": "あいうえお",