diff --git a/daemon/control_ng.c b/daemon/control_ng.c
index 0080c071b..11b19e2f2 100644
--- a/daemon/control_ng.c
+++ b/daemon/control_ng.c
@@ -440,6 +440,15 @@ static str json_collapse(ng_parser_ctx_t *ctx, JsonNode *a, void **to_free) {
 static void json_ctx_init(ng_parser_ctx_t *ctx, bencode_buffer_t *buf) {
 	*ctx = (ng_parser_ctx_t) { .parser = &ng_parser_json };
 }
+static str dummy_encode_len(char *out, const char *in, size_t in_len) {
+	return STR_LEN(in, in_len);
+}
+static str *dummy_decode_len(const char *in, size_t len) {
+	str *r = str_alloc(len);
+	memcpy(r->s, in, len);
+	r->s[len] = '\0';
+	return r;
+}
 
 const ng_parser_t ng_parser_native = {
 	.init = __bencode_ctx_init,
@@ -474,6 +483,8 @@ const ng_parser_t ng_parser_native = {
 	.list_add_string = bencode_list_add_string,
 	.list_add_str_dup = bencode_list_add_str_dup,
 	.pretty_print = bencode_pretty_print,
+	.escape = dummy_encode_len,
+	.unescape = dummy_decode_len,
 };
 const ng_parser_t ng_parser_json = {
 	.init = json_ctx_init,
@@ -508,6 +519,8 @@ const ng_parser_t ng_parser_json = {
 	.list_add_string = json_list_add_string,
 	.list_add_str_dup = json_list_add_str,
 	.pretty_print = json_pretty_print,
+	.escape = str_uri_encode_len,
+	.unescape = str_uri_decode_len,
 };
 
 
diff --git a/daemon/redis.c b/daemon/redis.c
index 22595fae4..f0b5fddb1 100644
--- a/daemon/redis.c
+++ b/daemon/redis.c
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ static void json_get_hash_iter(const ng_parser_t *parser, str *key, parser_arg v
 	char *tmp = __g_memdup(key->s, key->len + 1);
 	tmp[key->len] = '\0';
 	// XXX eliminate string dup? eliminate URI decode?
-	if (g_hash_table_insert(arg.ht, tmp, str_uri_decode_len(val.s, val.len)) != TRUE)
+	if (g_hash_table_insert(arg.ht, tmp, parser->unescape(val.s, val.len)) != TRUE)
 		rlog(LOG_WARNING,"Key %s already exists", tmp);
 }
 
@@ -1191,7 +1191,7 @@ struct cb_iter_ptrs { // XXX remove this?
 
 static void json_build_list_cb_iter(str *val, unsigned int i, helper_arg arg) {
 	struct cb_iter_ptrs *args = arg.generic;
-	str *s = str_uri_decode_len(val->s, val->len);
+	str *s = redis_parser->unescape(val->s, val->len);
 	args->cb(s, args->cb_arg, args->list, args->ptr);
 	g_free(s);
 }
@@ -2310,32 +2310,32 @@ err:
 #define JSON_ADD_LIST_STRING(f,...) do { \
 		int len = snprintf(tmp,sizeof(tmp), f, __VA_ARGS__); \
 		char enc[len * 3 + 1]; \
-		str encstr = str_uri_encode_len(enc, tmp, len); \
+		str encstr = parser->escape(enc, tmp, len); \
 		parser->list_add_str_dup(inner, &encstr); \
 	} while (0)
 #define JSON_SET_NSTRING(a,b,c,...) do { \
 		int len = snprintf(tmp,sizeof(tmp), c, __VA_ARGS__); \
 		char enc[len * 3 + 1]; \
-		str encstr = str_uri_encode_len(enc, tmp, len); \
+		str encstr = parser->escape(enc, tmp, len); \
 		snprintf(tmp,sizeof(tmp), a,b); \
 		parser->dict_add_str_dup(inner, tmp, &encstr); \
 	} while (0)
 #define JSON_SET_NSTRING_CSTR(a,b,d) JSON_SET_NSTRING_LEN(a, b, strlen(d), d)
 #define JSON_SET_NSTRING_LEN(a,b,l,d) do { \
 		char enc[l * 3 + 1]; \
-		str encstr = str_uri_encode_len(enc, d, l); \
+		str encstr = parser->escape(enc, d, l); \
 		snprintf(tmp,sizeof(tmp), a,b); \
 		parser->dict_add_str_dup(inner, tmp, &encstr); \
 	} while (0)
 #define JSON_SET_SIMPLE(a,c,...) do { \
 		int len = snprintf(tmp,sizeof(tmp), c, __VA_ARGS__); \
 		char enc[len * 3 + 1]; \
-		str encstr = str_uri_encode_len(enc, tmp, len); \
+		str encstr = parser->escape(enc, tmp, len); \
 		parser->dict_add_str_dup(inner, a, &encstr); \
 	} while (0)
 #define JSON_SET_SIMPLE_LEN(a,l,d) do { \
 		char enc[l * 3 + 1]; \
-		str encstr = str_uri_encode_len(enc, d, l); \
+		str encstr = parser->escape(enc, d, l); \
 		parser->dict_add_str_dup(inner, a, &encstr); \
 	} while (0)
 #define JSON_SET_SIMPLE_CSTR(a,d) parser->dict_add_str_dup(inner, a, &STR(d))
diff --git a/include/control_ng.h b/include/control_ng.h
index 579049cc6..7f384764f 100644
--- a/include/control_ng.h
+++ b/include/control_ng.h
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ struct ng_parser {
 	void (*list_add_str_dup)(parser_arg, const str *);
 	void (*list_add_string)(parser_arg , const char *);
 	void (*pretty_print)(parser_arg, GString *);
+	str (*escape)(char *, const char *, size_t);
+	str *(*unescape)(const char *, size_t);
 };
 struct ng_parser_ctx {
 	const ng_parser_t *parser;