diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/json_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/json_highlight_rules.js
index 8e4dbdcf..5a039869 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/json_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/json_highlight_rules.js
@@ -49,8 +49,12 @@ var JsonHighlightRules = function() {
     this.$rules = {
         "start" : [
             {
+                token : "variable", // single line
+                regex : '["](?:(?:\\\\.)|(?:[^"\\\\]))*?["]\\s*(?=:)'
+            }, {
                 token : "string", // single line
-                regex : '["](?:(?:\\\\.)|(?:[^"\\\\]))*?["]'
+                regex : '"',
+                next  : "string"
             }, {
                 token : "constant.numeric", // hex
                 regex : "0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+\\b"
@@ -76,6 +80,26 @@ var JsonHighlightRules = function() {
                 token : "text",
                 regex : "\\s+"
             }
+        ],
+        "string" : [
+            {
+                token : "constant.language.escape",
+                regex : /\\(?:x[0-9a-fA-F]{2}|u[0-9a-fA-F]{4})/
+            }, {
+                token : "string",
+                regex : '[^"\\\\]+',
+                merge : true
+            }, {
+                token : "string",
+                regex : '"',
+                next  : "start",
+                merge : true
+            }, {
+                token : "string",
+                regex : "",
+                next  : "start",
+                merge : true
+            }
         ]
     };