diff --git a/json.lua b/json.lua
index 098e7b2..4e4b71a 100644
--- a/json.lua
+++ b/json.lua
@@ -154,6 +154,8 @@ local space_chars   = create_set(" ", "\t", "\r", "\n")
 local delim_chars   = create_set(" ", "\t", "\r", "\n", "]", "}", ",")
 local escape_chars  = create_set("\\", "/", '"', "b", "f", "n", "r", "t", "u")
 local literals      = create_set("true", "false", "null")
+local locale_character = (string.match(tostring(tonumber(1.1)),'%p')) -- return the locale punctuation character according to the locale
+
 
 local literal_map = {
   [ "true"  ] = true,
@@ -271,6 +273,7 @@ end
 local function parse_number(str, i)
   local x = next_char(str, i, delim_chars)
   local s = str:sub(i, x - 1)
+  s = s:gsub('%p',locale_character) -- replace the locale punctuation character in the string with the correct one
   local n = tonumber(s)
   if not n then
     decode_error(str, i, "invalid number '" .. s .. "'")