diff --git a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
index 8ecf8490d..1e5a47241 100644
--- a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
@@ -499,6 +499,8 @@ func (p *Provisioner) deepJsonFix(key string, current interface{}) (interface{},
 		}
 
 		return val, nil
+	case []uint8:
+		return string(c), nil
 	case map[interface{}]interface{}:
 		val := make(map[string]interface{})
 		for k, v := range c {
diff --git a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
index 35fdb915a..73e54de57 100644
--- a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
+++ b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ func TestProvisionerPrepare_jsonNested(t *testing.T) {
 	config := testConfig()
 	config["json"] = map[string]interface{}{
 		"foo": map[interface{}]interface{}{
-			"bar": "baz",
+			"bar": []uint8("baz"),
 		},
 
 		"bar": []interface{}{
@@ -281,6 +281,7 @@ func TestProvisionerPrepare_jsonNested(t *testing.T) {
 		"bFalse": false,
 		"bTrue": true,
 		"bNil": nil,
+		"bStr": []uint8("bar"),
 
 		"bInt": 1,
 		"bFloat": 4.5,
@@ -291,4 +292,12 @@ func TestProvisionerPrepare_jsonNested(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
 	}
+
+	fooMap := p.config.Json["foo"].(map[string]interface{})
+	if fooMap["bar"] != "baz" {
+		t.Fatalf("nope: %#v", fooMap["bar"])
+	}
+	if p.config.Json["bStr"] != "bar" {
+		t.Fatalf("nope: %#v", fooMap["bar"])
+	}
 }