diff --git a/httpie/compat.py b/httpie/compat.py
index bb222d91..45ccfe7a 100644
--- a/httpie/compat.py
+++ b/httpie/compat.py
@@ -3,28 +3,28 @@ Python 2.6, 2.7, and 3.x compatibility.
 
 """
 # Borrow these from requests:
-#noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences
+# noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences
 from requests.compat import is_windows, bytes, str, is_py3, is_py26
 
 try:
-    #noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences,PyCompatibility
+    # noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences,PyCompatibility
     from urllib.parse import urlsplit
 except ImportError:
-    #noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences,PyCompatibility
+    # noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences,PyCompatibility
     from urlparse import urlsplit
 
 try:
-    #noinspection PyCompatibility
+    # noinspection PyCompatibility
     from urllib.request import urlopen
 except ImportError:
-    #noinspection PyCompatibility
+    # noinspection PyCompatibility
     from urllib2 import urlopen
 
 try:
     from collections import OrderedDict
 except ImportError:
-    ### Python 2.6 OrderedDict class, needed for headers, parameters, etc .###
-    ### <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/ordereddict/1.1>
+    # Python 2.6 OrderedDict class, needed for headers, parameters, etc .###
+    # <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/ordereddict/1.1>
     # noinspection PyCompatibility
     from UserDict import DictMixin
 
diff --git a/httpie/input.py b/httpie/input.py
index 19bdd904..ff0bf034 100644
--- a/httpie/input.py
+++ b/httpie/input.py
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@
 import os
 import sys
 import re
-import json
 import errno
 import mimetypes
 import getpass
 from io import BytesIO
 from collections import namedtuple
-#noinspection PyCompatibility
+# noinspection PyCompatibility
 from argparse import ArgumentParser, ArgumentTypeError, ArgumentError
 
 # TODO: Use MultiDict for headers once added to `requests`.
@@ -19,6 +18,7 @@ from requests.structures import CaseInsensitiveDict
 
 from httpie.compat import OrderedDict, urlsplit, str
 from httpie.sessions import VALID_SESSION_NAME_PATTERN
+from httpie.utils import load_json_preserve_order
 
 
 HTTP_POST = 'POST'
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ class Parser(ArgumentParser):
         kwargs['add_help'] = False
         super(Parser, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
-    #noinspection PyMethodOverriding
+    # noinspection PyMethodOverriding
     def parse_args(self, env, args=None, namespace=None):
 
         self.env = env
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ def parse_items(items,
 
             if item.sep in SEP_GROUP_RAW_JSON_ITEMS:
                 try:
-                    value = json.loads(value, object_pairs_hook=OrderedDict)
+                    value = load_json_preserve_order(value)
                 except ValueError as e:
                     raise ParseError('"%s": %s' % (item.orig, e))
             target = data
diff --git a/httpie/utils.py b/httpie/utils.py
index 0989372c..ad2119aa 100644
--- a/httpie/utils.py
+++ b/httpie/utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
 from __future__ import division
+import json
+
+from httpie.compat import is_py26, OrderedDict
+
+
+def load_json_preserve_order(s):
+    if is_py26:
+        return json.loads(s)
+    return json.loads(s, object_pairs_hook=OrderedDict)
 
 
 def humanize_bytes(n, precision=2):
diff --git a/tests/test_httpie.py b/tests/test_httpie.py
index 0dd0e9cc..92cb1932 100644
--- a/tests/test_httpie.py
+++ b/tests/test_httpie.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 """High-level tests."""
+import pytest
 from utils import TestEnvironment, http, HTTP_OK
 from fixtures import FILE_PATH, FILE_CONTENT
+
 import httpie
+from httpie.compat import is_py26
 
 
 class TestHTTPie:
@@ -64,7 +67,13 @@ class TestHTTPie:
         assert '"User-Agent": "HTTPie' in r, r
         assert '"Foo": "bar"' in r
 
-    def test_json_order(self, httpbin):
-        r = http('PATCH', httpbin.url + '/patch', 'order:={"map":{"1":"first","2":"second"}}')
+    @pytest.mark.skipif(
+        is_py26,
+        reason='the `object_pairs_hook` arg for `json.loads()` is Py>2.6 only'
+    )
+    def test_json_input_preserve_order(self, httpbin):
+        r = http('PATCH', httpbin.url + '/patch',
+                 'order:={"map":{"1":"first","2":"second"}}')
         assert HTTP_OK in r
-        assert r.json['data'] == '{"order": {"map": {"1": "first", "2": "second"}}}'
+        assert r.json['data'] == \
+            '{"order": {"map": {"1": "first", "2": "second"}}}'