diff --git a/src/jsx_utils.erl b/src/jsx_utils.erl
index eb6fb0f..bfe1900 100644
--- a/src/jsx_utils.erl
+++ b/src/jsx_utils.erl
@@ -25,13 +25,12 @@
 
 -export([parse_opts/1]).
 -export([extract_opts/1]).
--export([json_escape/2, json_escape_sequence/1]).
+-export([json_escape_sequence/1]).
 
 -include("jsx_opts.hrl").
 
 
 %% parsing of jsx opts
-
 parse_opts(Opts) ->
     parse_opts(Opts, #opts{}).
 
@@ -97,227 +96,6 @@ extract_parser_opts([K|Rest], Acc) ->
     end.
 
 
-%% json string escaping, for utf8 binaries. escape the json control sequences to 
-%%  their json equivalent, escape other control characters to \uXXXX sequences, 
-%%  everything else should be a legal json string component
-
-json_escape(String, Opts) when is_binary(String) ->
-    case Opts#opts.dirty_strings of
-        true -> String
-        ; false -> json_escape(String, Opts, 0, size(String))
-    end.
-
-
--define(control_character(X),
-        <<H:L/binary, X, T/binary>> ->
-            json_escape(
-                <<H/binary, (unicode:characters_to_binary(json_escape_sequence(X)))/binary, T/binary>>,
-                Opts,
-                L + 6,
-                Len + 5
-            )
-).
-
-json_escape(Str, Opts, L, Len) when L < Len ->
-    case Str of
-        ?control_character(0);
-        ?control_character(1);
-        ?control_character(2);
-        ?control_character(3);
-        ?control_character(4);
-        ?control_character(5);
-        ?control_character(6);
-        ?control_character(7);
-        <<H:L/binary, $\b, T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $b, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        <<H:L/binary, $\t, T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $t, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        <<H:L/binary, $\n, T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $n, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        ?control_character(11);
-        <<H:L/binary, $\f, T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $f, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        <<H:L/binary, $\r, T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $r, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        ?control_character(14);
-        ?control_character(15);
-        ?control_character(16);
-        ?control_character(17);
-        ?control_character(18);
-        ?control_character(19);
-        ?control_character(20);
-        ?control_character(21);
-        ?control_character(22);
-        ?control_character(23);
-        ?control_character(24);
-        ?control_character(25);
-        ?control_character(26);
-        ?control_character(27);
-        ?control_character(28);
-        ?control_character(29);
-        ?control_character(30);
-        ?control_character(31);
-        <<_:L/binary, 32, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 33, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<H:L/binary, $\", T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $", T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        <<_:L/binary, 35, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 36, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 37, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 38, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 39, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 40, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 41, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 42, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 43, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 44, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 45, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 46, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<H:L/binary, $/, T/binary>> ->
-            case Opts#opts.escape_forward_slash of
-                true ->
-                    json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $/, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-                false ->
-                    json_escape(<<H/binary, $/, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 1, Len)
-            end;
-        <<_:L/binary, 48, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 49, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 50, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 51, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 52, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 53, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 54, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 55, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 56, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 57, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 58, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 59, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 60, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 61, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 62, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 63, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 64, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 65, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 66, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 67, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 68, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 69, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 70, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 71, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 72, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 73, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 74, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 75, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 76, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 77, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 78, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 79, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 80, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 81, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 82, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 83, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 84, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 85, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 86, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 87, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 88, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 89, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 90, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 91, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);       
-        <<H:L/binary, $\\, T/binary>> -> json_escape(<<H/binary, $\\, $\\, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 2, Len + 1);
-        <<_:L/binary, 93, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 94, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 95, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 96, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 97, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 98, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 99, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 100, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 101, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 102, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 103, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 104, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 105, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 106, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 107, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 108, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 109, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 110, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 111, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 112, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 113, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 114, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 115, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 116, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 117, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 118, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 119, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 120, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 121, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 122, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 123, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 124, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 125, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 126, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, 127, _/binary>> -> json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<H:L/binary, 16#2028/utf8, T/binary>> ->
-            case Opts#opts.no_jsonp_escapes of
-                true ->
-                    json_escape(<<H/binary, 16#2028/utf8, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 3, Len);
-                false ->
-                    B = unicode:characters_to_binary(json_escape_sequence(16#2028)),
-                    json_escape(<<H/binary, B/binary, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 6, Len + 3)
-            end;
-        <<H:L/binary, 16#2029/utf8, T/binary>> ->
-            case Opts#opts.no_jsonp_escapes of
-                true ->
-                    json_escape(<<H/binary, 16#2029/utf8, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 3, Len);
-                false ->
-                    B = unicode:characters_to_binary(json_escape_sequence(16#2029)),
-                    json_escape(<<H/binary, B/binary, T/binary>>, Opts, L + 6, Len + 3)
-            end;
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X < 16#0080 ->   
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 1, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X < 16#0800 ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 2, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X < 16#dcff ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 3, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X > 16#dfff, X < 16#fdd0 ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 3, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X > 16#fdef, X < 16#fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 3, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#10000, X < 16#1fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#20000, X < 16#2fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#30000, X < 16#3fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#40000, X < 16#4fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#50000, X < 16#5fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#60000, X < 16#6fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#70000, X < 16#7fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#80000, X < 16#8fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#90000, X < 16#9fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#a0000, X < 16#afffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#b0000, X < 16#bfffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#c0000, X < 16#cfffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#d0000, X < 16#dfffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#e0000, X < 16#efffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#f0000, X < 16#ffffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        <<_:L/binary, X/utf8, _/binary>> when X >= 16#100000, X < 16#10fffe ->
-            json_escape(Str, Opts, L + 4, Len);
-        _ -> erlang:error(badarg, [Str, Opts])
-    end;
-json_escape(Str, _, L, Len) when L =:= Len ->
-    Str.
-
-
 %% convert a codepoint to it's \uXXXX equiv.
 json_escape_sequence(X) ->
     <<A:4, B:4, C:4, D:4>> = <<X:16>>,
@@ -338,47 +116,13 @@ to_hex(X) -> X + 48.    %% ascii "1" is [49], "2" is [50], etc...
 -include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
 
 
-binary_escape_test_() ->
+json_escape_sequence_test_() ->
     [
-        {"json string escaping", 
-            ?_assertEqual(
-                json_escape(<<"\"\\\b\f\n\r\t">>, #opts{}),
-                <<"\\\"\\\\\\b\\f\\n\\r\\t">>
-            )
-        },
-        {"json string hex escape", 
-            ?_assertEqual(
-                json_escape(<<0, 1, 2, 3, 11, 26, 30, 31>>, #opts{}),
-                <<"\\u0000\\u0001\\u0002\\u0003\\u000b\\u001a\\u001e\\u001f">>
-            )
-        },
-        {"jsonp protection",
-            ?_assertEqual(
-                json_escape(<<226, 128, 168, 226, 128, 169>>, #opts{}),
-                <<"\\u2028\\u2029">>
-            )
-        },
-        {"no jsonp escapes",
-            ?_assertEqual(
-                json_escape(<<226, 128, 168, 226, 128, 169>>, #opts{no_jsonp_escapes=true}),
-                <<226, 128, 168, 226, 128, 169>>
-            )
-        },
-        {"microsoft i hate your date format",
-            ?_assertEqual(
-                json_escape(<<"/Date(1303502009425)/">>, #opts{escape_forward_slash=true}),
-                <<"\\/Date(1303502009425)\\/">>
-            )
-        },
-        {"dirty strings",
-            ?_assertEqual(
-                json_escape(<<"\\x25\\uffff">>, #opts{dirty_strings=true}),
-                <<"\\x25\\uffff">>
-            )
-        }
+        {"json escape sequence test - 16#0000", ?_assertEqual(json_escape_sequence(16#0000), "\\u0000")},
+        {"json escape sequence test - 16#abc", ?_assertEqual(json_escape_sequence(16#abc), "\\u0abc")},
+        {"json escape sequence test - 16#def", ?_assertEqual(json_escape_sequence(16#def), "\\u0def")}
     ].
 
-
 opts_test_() ->
     [
         {"all flags",