diff --git a/decode.go b/decode.go
index 005431f..e322d42 100644
--- a/decode.go
+++ b/decode.go
@@ -1291,7 +1291,7 @@ func unquoteBytes(s []byte) (t []byte, ok bool) {
 			}
 
 		// Quote, control characters are invalid.
-		case orig[0] == '"' && c == '"', orig[0] == '\'' && c == '\'', c < ' ':
+		case orig[0] == '"' && c == '"', orig[0] == '\'' && c == '\'', c < ' ' && c != '\t':
 			return
 
 		// ASCII
diff --git a/scanner.go b/scanner.go
index 283459a..78d3c43 100644
--- a/scanner.go
+++ b/scanner.go
@@ -457,6 +457,9 @@ func stateInStringDouble(s *scanner, c byte) int {
 		s.step = stateInStringEsc(stateInStringDouble)
 		return scanContinue
 	}
+	if c == '\t' {
+		return scanContinue
+	}
 	if c < 0x20 {
 		return s.error(c, "in string literal")
 	}