diff --git a/json.go b/json.go
index 53f176a..cd09edc 100644
--- a/json.go
+++ b/json.go
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) { //nolint:funlen
 		return []byte("null"), nil
 	}
 
-	writer := jwriter.Writer{}
+	writer := jwriter.Writer{
+		NoEscapeHTML: om.disableHTMLEscape,
+	}
 	writer.RawByte('{')
 
 	for pair, firstIteration := om.Oldest(), true; pair != nil; pair = pair.Next() {
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) { //nolint:funlen
 
 		writer.RawByte(':')
 		// the error is checked at the end of the function
-		writer.Raw(json.Marshal(pair.Value))
+		writer.Raw(jsonMarshal(pair.Value, om.disableHTMLEscape))
 	}
 
 	writer.RawByte('}')
@@ -86,6 +88,18 @@ func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) { //nolint:funlen
 	return dumpWriter(&writer)
 }
 
+func jsonMarshal(t interface{}, disableHTMlEscape bool) ([]byte, error) {
+	if disableHTMlEscape {
+		buffer := &bytes.Buffer{}
+		encoder := json.NewEncoder(buffer)
+		encoder.SetEscapeHTML(false)
+		err := encoder.Encode(t)
+		// Encode() adds an extra newline, strip it off to guarantee same behavior as json.Marshal
+		return bytes.TrimRight(buffer.Bytes(), "\n"), err
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(t)
+}
+
 func dumpWriter(writer *jwriter.Writer) ([]byte, error) {
 	if writer.Error != nil {
 		return nil, writer.Error
@@ -103,7 +117,7 @@ func dumpWriter(writer *jwriter.Writer) ([]byte, error) {
 // UnmarshalJSON implements the json.Unmarshaler interface.
 func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	if om.list == nil {
-		om.initialize(0)
+		om.initialize(0, om.disableHTMLEscape)
 	}
 
 	return jsonparser.ObjectEach(
diff --git a/json_test.go b/json_test.go
index 42b89ab..bfb08b7 100644
--- a/json_test.go
+++ b/json_test.go
@@ -107,6 +107,26 @@ func TestMarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, `{}`, string(b))
 	})
+
+	t.Run("HTML escaping enabled (default)", func(t *testing.T) {
+		om := New[marshallable, any]()
+		om.Set(marshallable(1), "hello <strong>this is bold</strong>")
+		om.Set(marshallable(28), "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><catalog><book>some book</book></catalog>")
+
+		b, err := jsonMarshal(om, false)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, `{"#1#":"hello \u003cstrong\u003ethis is bold\u003c/strong\u003e","#28#":"\u003c?xml version=\"1.0\"?\u003e\u003ccatalog\u003e\u003cbook\u003esome book\u003c/book\u003e\u003c/catalog\u003e"}`, string(b))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("HTML escaping disabled", func(t *testing.T) {
+		om := New[marshallable, any](WithDisableHTMLEscape[marshallable, any]())
+		om.Set(marshallable(1), "hello <strong>this is bold</strong>")
+		om.Set(marshallable(28), "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><catalog><book>some book</book></catalog>")
+
+		b, err := jsonMarshal(om, true /* we need to disable HTML escaping here also */)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, `{"#1#":"hello <strong>this is bold</strong>","#28#":"<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><catalog><book>some book</book></catalog>"}`, string(b))
+	})
 }
 
 func TestUnmarshallJSON(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/orderedmap.go b/orderedmap.go
index 45bf862..6198eb6 100644
--- a/orderedmap.go
+++ b/orderedmap.go
@@ -21,13 +21,15 @@ type Pair[K comparable, V any] struct {
 }
 
 type OrderedMap[K comparable, V any] struct {
-	pairs map[K]*Pair[K, V]
-	list  *list.List[*Pair[K, V]]
+	pairs             map[K]*Pair[K, V]
+	list              *list.List[*Pair[K, V]]
+	disableHTMLEscape bool
 }
 
 type initConfig[K comparable, V any] struct {
-	capacity    int
-	initialData []Pair[K, V]
+	capacity          int
+	initialData       []Pair[K, V]
+	disableHTMLEscape bool
 }
 
 type InitOption[K comparable, V any] func(config *initConfig[K, V])
@@ -49,6 +51,13 @@ func WithInitialData[K comparable, V any](initialData ...Pair[K, V]) InitOption[
 	}
 }
 
+// WithDisableHTMLEscape disables HTMl escaping when marshalling to JSON
+func WithDisableHTMLEscape[K comparable, V any]() InitOption[K, V] {
+	return func(c *initConfig[K, V]) {
+		c.disableHTMLEscape = true
+	}
+}
+
 // New creates a new OrderedMap.
 // options can either be one or several InitOption[K, V], or a single integer,
 // which is then interpreted as a capacity hint, à la make(map[K]V, capacity).
@@ -63,6 +72,11 @@ func New[K comparable, V any](options ...any) *OrderedMap[K, V] {
 				invalidOption()
 			}
 			config.capacity = option
+		case bool:
+			if len(options) != 1 {
+				invalidOption()
+			}
+			config.disableHTMLEscape = option
 
 		case InitOption[K, V]:
 			option(&config)
@@ -72,7 +86,7 @@ func New[K comparable, V any](options ...any) *OrderedMap[K, V] {
 		}
 	}
 
-	orderedMap.initialize(config.capacity)
+	orderedMap.initialize(config.capacity, config.disableHTMLEscape)
 	orderedMap.AddPairs(config.initialData...)
 
 	return orderedMap
@@ -82,9 +96,10 @@ const invalidOptionMessage = `when using orderedmap.New[K,V]() with options, eit
 
 func invalidOption() { panic(invalidOptionMessage) }
 
-func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) initialize(capacity int) {
+func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) initialize(capacity int, disableHTMLEscape bool) {
 	om.pairs = make(map[K]*Pair[K, V], capacity)
 	om.list = list.New[*Pair[K, V]]()
+	om.disableHTMLEscape = disableHTMLEscape
 }
 
 // Get looks for the given key, and returns the value associated with it,
diff --git a/yaml.go b/yaml.go
index 6022471..75c2efb 100644
--- a/yaml.go
+++ b/yaml.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func (om *OrderedMap[K, V]) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
 	}
 
 	if om.list == nil {
-		om.initialize(0)
+		om.initialize(0, om.disableHTMLEscape)
 	}
 
 	for index := 0; index < len(value.Content); index += 2 {