diff --git a/libpod/boltdb_state.go b/libpod/boltdb_state.go
index b154d8bda7..e7a07a9a86 100644
--- a/libpod/boltdb_state.go
+++ b/libpod/boltdb_state.go
@@ -2,15 +2,17 @@ package libpod
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/boltdb/bolt"
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
+var json = jsoniter.ConfigCompatibleWithStandardLibrary
+
 // BoltState is a state implementation backed by a Bolt DB
 type BoltState struct {
 	valid          bool
diff --git a/libpod/boltdb_state_internal.go b/libpod/boltdb_state_internal.go
index 29a7184c95..ea150cfacf 100644
--- a/libpod/boltdb_state_internal.go
+++ b/libpod/boltdb_state_internal.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package libpod
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
diff --git a/libpod/container.go b/libpod/container.go
index 026eb1c4fe..ca83bbffed 100644
--- a/libpod/container.go
+++ b/libpod/container.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package libpod
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
diff --git a/libpod/container_internal.go b/libpod/container_internal.go
index 69df33bc9c..90f4659dad 100644
--- a/libpod/container_internal.go
+++ b/libpod/container_internal.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package libpod
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
diff --git a/libpod/container_internal_linux.go b/libpod/container_internal_linux.go
index 2f03d45eae..9b03db6626 100644
--- a/libpod/container_internal_linux.go
+++ b/libpod/container_internal_linux.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ package libpod
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
diff --git a/libpod/oci.go b/libpod/oci.go
index 31c1a7e851..7a908db2e3 100644
--- a/libpod/oci.go
+++ b/libpod/oci.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package libpod
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
diff --git a/libpod/storage.go b/libpod/storage.go
index 10026efdaa..17d231171b 100644
--- a/libpod/storage.go
+++ b/libpod/storage.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package libpod
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"time"
 
 	istorage "github.com/containers/image/storage"