diff --git a/vespajlib/src/main/java/com/yahoo/data/access/simple/JsonRender.java b/vespajlib/src/main/java/com/yahoo/data/access/simple/JsonRender.java
index fffaa7eacbdb..74c5ad55d4a9 100644
--- a/vespajlib/src/main/java/com/yahoo/data/access/simple/JsonRender.java
+++ b/vespajlib/src/main/java/com/yahoo/data/access/simple/JsonRender.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ protected void encodeSTRING(String value) {
                 case '\r': out.append('\\').append('r'); break;
                 case '\t': out.append('\\').append('t'); break;
                 default:
-                    if (c > 0x1f && c < 127) {
+                    if (c > 0x1f) {
                         out.append(c);
                     } else { // requires escaping according to RFC 4627
                         out.append('\\').append('u');