diff --git a/src/jsx.erl b/src/jsx.erl
index 663030c..6abaff3 100644
--- a/src/jsx.erl
+++ b/src/jsx.erl
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ load_tests([Test|Rest], Dir, Acc) ->
             ParsedTest = parse_tests(TestSpec, Dir),
             load_tests(Rest, Dir, [ParsedTest] ++ Acc)
         ; {error, _Reason} ->
-            load_tests(Rest, Dir, Acc)
+            erlang:error(Test)
     end.
 
 
diff --git a/src/jsx_decoder.hrl b/src/jsx_decoder.hrl
index 0bfcae1..ac40cfa 100644
--- a/src/jsx_decoder.hrl
+++ b/src/jsx_decoder.hrl
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ low_surrogate(<<D/?utfx, Rest/binary>>, Stack, Opts, String, [C, B, A], H)
                     string(Rest,
                         Stack,
                         Opts,
-                        <<String/binary, 16#fffd/utf8, 16#fffd/utf8>>
+                        [16#fffd, 16#fffd] ++ String
                     )
                 ; false ->    
                     {error, {badjson, <<D/?utfx, Rest/binary>>}}
diff --git a/test/cases/encoded_surrogates.test b/test/cases/encoded_surrogates.test
index d65c5c0..ae071c7 100644
--- a/test/cases/encoded_surrogates.test
+++ b/test/cases/encoded_surrogates.test
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {name, "encoded_surrogates"}.
-{jsx, [start_array,{string,66560]},end_array,end_json]}.
+{jsx, [start_array,{string,[66560]},end_array,end_json]}.
 {json, "encoded_surrogates.json"}.
diff --git a/test/cases/noncharacter_replaced.test b/test/cases/noncharacter_replaced.test
index 2718106..2e1752c 100644
--- a/test/cases/noncharacter_replaced.test
+++ b/test/cases/noncharacter_replaced.test
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 {name, "noncharacter replaced"}.
-{jsx, [{string,[16#fffd/utf8]},end_json]}.
+{jsx, [{string,[16#fffd]},end_json]}.
 {json, "noncharacter_replaced.json"}.
 {jsx_flags, [loose_unicode]}.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/cases/unpaired_surrogate_replaced.test b/test/cases/unpaired_surrogate_replaced.test
index 531fc69..5061dc8 100644
--- a/test/cases/unpaired_surrogate_replaced.test
+++ b/test/cases/unpaired_surrogate_replaced.test
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 {name, "unpaired surrogate replaced"}.
-{jsx, [start_array,{string,16#fffd/utf8 ++ "blah"},end_array,end_json]}.
+{jsx, [start_array,{string,[65533,$b,$l,$a,$h]},end_array,end_json]}.
 {json, "unpaired_surrogate_replaced.json"}.
 {jsx_flags, [loose_unicode]}.