diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 6146e2dc..61cd9e68 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     ],
     "license": "BSD-3-Clause",
     "require": {
-        "php": ">=5.3.0"
+        "php": ">=5.4.0"
     },
     "suggest": {
         "paragonie/sodium_compat": "Support EdDSA (Ed25519) signatures when libsodium is not present"
diff --git a/src/JWT.php b/src/JWT.php
index ec1641bc..1da6957d 100644
--- a/src/JWT.php
+++ b/src/JWT.php
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ public static function jsonDecode($input)
      */
     public static function jsonEncode($input)
     {
-        $json = \json_encode($input);
+        $json = \json_encode($input, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES);
         if ($errno = \json_last_error()) {
             static::handleJsonError($errno);
         } elseif ($json === 'null' && $input !== null) {