diff --git a/lib/json5/decode/backend/yecc.ex b/lib/json5/decode/backend/yecc.ex
index 2e98aab..603c9aa 100644
--- a/lib/json5/decode/backend/yecc.ex
+++ b/lib/json5/decode/backend/yecc.ex
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ defmodule Json5.Decode.Backend.Yecc do
     charlist
     |> :string.replace([92, 13, 10], [])
     |> :string.replace([92, 10], [])
-    |> :erlang.iolist_to_binary()
+    |> :unicode.characters_to_binary()
   end
 
   defp to_term({:key, _, charlist}, config) do
diff --git a/test/json5/decode_test.exs b/test/json5/decode_test.exs
index 3635757..6b4a57d 100644
--- a/test/json5/decode_test.exs
+++ b/test/json5/decode_test.exs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ defmodule Json5.DecodeTest do
     [:boolean, true, "true"],
     ["string single quote", "some text", "'some text'"],
     ["string double quote", "some text", "\"some text\""],
+    ["string unicode", "ūňĭčŏďē text", "\"ūňĭčŏďē text\""],
     ["number hex", decimal(2801), "0xaf1"],
     ["number hex", decimal(120_772), "0X1D7c4"],
     [:number, decimal(2801), "2801"],