diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index fcf34c3fb9ec..0fe7e6825af5 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ PHP                                                                        NEWS
 - FTP:
   . Fixed bug #65667 (ftp_nb_continue produces segfault). (Philip Hofstetter)
 
+- JSON
+  . Fixed whitespace part of bug #64874 ("json_decode handles whitespace and
+    case-sensitivity incorrectly")
+
 - Sockets:
   . Fixed bug #65808 (the socket_connect() won't work with IPv6 address).
     (Mike)
diff --git a/UPGRADING b/UPGRADING
index e6f582a4a8b1..edcaa17b3052 100755
--- a/UPGRADING
+++ b/UPGRADING
@@ -492,6 +492,16 @@ b. Extensions with changed behavior
      - the output of the tiger hash family has been corrected, see
        https://bugs.php.net/61307
 
+   - JSON extension
+     - Fixed whitespace part of bug #64874 ("json_decode handles whitespace and
+       case-sensitivity incorrectly")
+       This means that leading and trailing whitespace when deserialising lone
+       JSON null, true, false, string and number values no longer causes an
+       error. Please note that this only applies to the deserialising of strings
+       containing only a null, true, false, string or number value. Leading and
+       trailing whitespace around and inside objects and arrays has never caused
+       an error.
+       
 ===========================
 10. Changes in SAPI support
 ===========================
diff --git a/ext/json/json.c b/ext/json/json.c
index 8c8963db8cc5..a786fef45c74 100644
--- a/ext/json/json.c
+++ b/ext/json/json.c
@@ -684,21 +684,35 @@ PHP_JSON_API void php_json_decode_ex(zval *return_value, char *str, int str_len,
 		double d;
 		int type, overflow_info;
 		long p;
+		char *trim = str;
+		int trim_len = str_len;
+
+		/* Increment trimmed string pointer to strip leading whitespace */
+		/* JSON RFC says to consider as whitespace: space, tab, LF or CR */
+		while (trim_len && (*trim == ' ' || *trim == '\t' || *trim == '\n' || *trim == '\r')) {
+			trim++;
+			trim_len--;
+		}
+
+		/* Decrement trimmed string length to strip trailing whitespace */
+		while (trim_len && (trim[trim_len - 1] == ' ' || trim[trim_len - 1] == '\t' || trim[trim_len - 1] == '\n' || trim[trim_len - 1] == '\r')) {
+			trim_len--;
+		}
 
 		RETVAL_NULL();
-		if (str_len == 4) {
-			if (!strcasecmp(str, "null")) {
+		if (trim_len == 4) {
+			if (!strncasecmp(trim, "null", trim_len)) {
 				/* We need to explicitly clear the error because its an actual NULL and not an error */
 				jp->error_code = PHP_JSON_ERROR_NONE;
 				RETVAL_NULL();
-			} else if (!strcasecmp(str, "true")) {
+			} else if (!strncasecmp(trim, "true", trim_len)) {
 				RETVAL_BOOL(1);
 			}
-		} else if (str_len == 5 && !strcasecmp(str, "false")) {
+		} else if (trim_len == 5 && !strncasecmp(trim, "false", trim_len)) {
 			RETVAL_BOOL(0);
 		}
 
-		if ((type = is_numeric_string_ex(str, str_len, &p, &d, 0, &overflow_info)) != 0) {
+		if ((type = is_numeric_string_ex(trim, trim_len, &p, &d, 0, &overflow_info)) != 0) {
 			if (type == IS_LONG) {
 				RETVAL_LONG(p);
 			} else if (type == IS_DOUBLE) {
@@ -711,10 +725,10 @@ PHP_JSON_API void php_json_decode_ex(zval *return_value, char *str, int str_len,
 					int i;
 					zend_bool is_float = 0;
 
-					for (i = (str[0] == '-' ? 1 : 0); i < str_len; i++) {
+					for (i = (trim[0] == '-' ? 1 : 0); i < trim_len; i++) {
 						/* Not using isdigit() because it's locale specific,
 						 * but we expect JSON input to always be UTF-8. */
-						if (str[i] < '0' || str[i] > '9') {
+						if (trim[i] < '0' || trim[i] > '9') {
 							is_float = 1;
 							break;
 						}
@@ -723,7 +737,7 @@ PHP_JSON_API void php_json_decode_ex(zval *return_value, char *str, int str_len,
 					if (is_float) {
 						RETVAL_DOUBLE(d);
 					} else {
-						RETVAL_STRINGL(str, str_len, 1);
+						RETVAL_STRINGL(trim, trim_len, 1);
 					}
 				} else {
 					RETVAL_DOUBLE(d);
diff --git a/ext/json/tests/bug64874_part1.phpt b/ext/json/tests/bug64874_part1.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6b79b8dc047e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/json/tests/bug64874_part1.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+--TEST--
+Whitespace part of bug #64874 ("json_decode handles whitespace and case-sensitivity incorrectly")
+--SKIPIF--
+<?php if (!extension_loaded("json")) print "skip"; ?>
+--FILE--
+<?php
+function decode($json) {
+    var_dump(json_decode($json));
+    var_dump(json_last_error() !== 0);
+    echo "\n";
+}
+
+// Leading whitespace should be ignored
+decode(" true");
+decode("\ttrue");
+decode("\ntrue");
+decode("\rtrue");
+
+// So should trailing whitespace
+decode("true ");
+decode("true\t");
+decode("true\n");
+decode("true\r");
+
+// And so should the combination of both
+decode(" true ");
+decode(" true\t");
+decode(" true\n");
+decode(" true\r");
+decode("\ttrue ");
+decode("\ttrue\t");
+decode("\ttrue\n");
+decode("\ttrue\r");
+decode("\ntrue ");
+decode("\ntrue\t");
+decode("\ntrue\n");
+decode("\ntrue\r");
+decode("\rtrue ");
+decode("\rtrue\t");
+decode("\rtrue\n");
+decode("\rtrue\r");
+
+echo "Done\n";
+--EXPECT--
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+
+Done