diff --git a/src/script/C4PropList.cpp b/src/script/C4PropList.cpp
index f9cab1c77..c8139800d 100644
--- a/src/script/C4PropList.cpp
+++ b/src/script/C4PropList.cpp
@@ -512,6 +512,26 @@ void C4PropList::AppendDataString(StdStrBuf * out, const char * delim, int depth
 	}
 }
 
+StdStrBuf C4PropList::ToJSON(int depth, bool ignore_reference_parent) const
+{
+	if (depth <= 0 && Properties.GetSize())
+	{
+		throw new C4JSONSerializationError("maximum depth reached");
+	}
+	StdStrBuf DataString;
+	DataString = "{";
+	std::list<const C4Property *> sorted_props = Properties.GetSortedListOfElementPointers();
+	for (std::list<const C4Property *>::const_iterator p = sorted_props.begin(); p != sorted_props.end(); ++p)
+	{
+		if (p != sorted_props.begin()) DataString.Append(",");
+		DataString.Append(C4Value((*p)->Key).ToJSON());
+		DataString.Append(":");
+		DataString.Append((*p)->Value.ToJSON(depth - 1, ignore_reference_parent ? IsStatic() : nullptr));
+	}
+	DataString.Append("}");
+	return DataString;
+}
+
 std::vector< C4String * > C4PropList::GetSortedLocalProperties(bool add_prototype) const
 {
 	// return property list without descending into prototype
diff --git a/src/script/C4PropList.h b/src/script/C4PropList.h
index dd7b3a9e3..45d5fda39 100644
--- a/src/script/C4PropList.h
+++ b/src/script/C4PropList.h
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ public:
 
 	void CompileFunc(StdCompiler *pComp, C4ValueNumbers *);
 	void AppendDataString(StdStrBuf * out, const char * delim, int depth = 3, bool ignore_reference_parent = false) const;
+	StdStrBuf ToJSON(int depth = 10, bool ignore_reference_parent = false) const;
 	std::vector< C4String * > GetSortedLocalProperties(bool add_prototype=true) const;
 	std::vector< C4String * > GetSortedLocalProperties(const char *prefix, const C4PropList *ignore_overridden) const;
 	std::vector< C4String * > GetUnsortedProperties(const char *prefix, C4PropList *ignore_parent = nullptr) const;
diff --git a/src/script/C4Value.cpp b/src/script/C4Value.cpp
index decbb7564..a93f9198e 100644
--- a/src/script/C4Value.cpp
+++ b/src/script/C4Value.cpp
@@ -184,6 +184,64 @@ StdStrBuf C4Value::GetDataString(int depth, const C4PropListStatic *ignore_refer
 	}
 }
 
+// JSON serialization.
+// Only plain data values can be serialized. Throws a C4JSONSerializationError
+// when encountering values that cannot be represented in JSON or when the
+// maximum depth is reached.
+StdStrBuf C4Value::ToJSON(int depth, const C4PropListStatic *ignore_reference_parent) const
+{
+	// ouput by type info
+	switch (GetType())
+	{
+	case C4V_Int:
+		return FormatString("%ld", static_cast<long>(Data.Int));
+	case C4V_Bool:
+		return StdStrBuf(Data ? "true" : "false");
+	case C4V_PropList:
+	{
+		const C4PropListStatic * Def = Data.PropList->IsStatic();
+		if (Def)
+			if (!ignore_reference_parent || Def->GetParent() != ignore_reference_parent)
+				return Def->ToJSON();
+		return Data.PropList->ToJSON(depth, Def && ignore_reference_parent);
+	}
+	case C4V_String:
+		if (Data.Str && Data.Str->GetCStr())
+		{
+			StdStrBuf str = Data.Str->GetData();
+			str.EscapeString();
+			str.Replace("\n", "\\n");
+			return FormatString("\"%s\"", str.getData());
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			return StdStrBuf("null");
+		}
+	case C4V_Array:
+	{
+		if (depth <= 0 && Data.Array->GetSize())
+		{
+			throw C4JSONSerializationError("maximum depth reached");
+		}
+		StdStrBuf DataString;
+		DataString = "[";
+		for (int32_t i = 0; i < Data.Array->GetSize(); i++)
+		{
+			if (i) DataString.Append(",");
+			DataString.Append(std::move(Data.Array->GetItem(i).GetDataString(depth - 1)));
+		}
+		DataString.AppendChar(']');
+		return DataString;
+	}
+	case C4V_Function:
+		throw C4JSONSerializationError("cannot serialize function");
+	case C4V_Nil:
+		return StdStrBuf("null");
+	default:
+		throw C4JSONSerializationError("unknown type");
+	}
+}
+
 const C4Value & C4ValueNumbers::GetValue(uint32_t n)
 {
 	if (n <= LoadedValues.size())
diff --git a/src/script/C4Value.h b/src/script/C4Value.h
index 9a8a5726b..b0b2f5558 100644
--- a/src/script/C4Value.h
+++ b/src/script/C4Value.h
@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ union C4V_Data
 	C4V_Data &operator = (void *p) { assert(!p); Ptr = p; return *this; }
 };
 
+class C4JSONSerializationError : public std::exception
+{
+	std::string msg;
+public:
+	C4JSONSerializationError(const std::string& msg) : msg(msg) {}
+	virtual const char* what() const noexcept override { return msg.c_str(); }
+};
+
 class C4Value
 {
 public:
@@ -158,6 +166,7 @@ public:
 	void Denumerate(C4ValueNumbers *);
 
 	StdStrBuf GetDataString(int depth = 10, const class C4PropListStatic *ignore_reference_parent = nullptr) const;
+	StdStrBuf ToJSON(int depth = 10, const class C4PropListStatic *ignore_reference_parent = nullptr) const;
 
 	ALWAYS_INLINE bool CheckParConversion(C4V_Type vtToType) const // convert to dest type
 	{
diff --git a/tests/C4ValueTest.cpp b/tests/C4ValueTest.cpp
index 14f49de43..e82ad186a 100644
--- a/tests/C4ValueTest.cpp
+++ b/tests/C4ValueTest.cpp
@@ -34,3 +34,41 @@ TEST(C4ValueTest, SanityTests)
 	EXPECT_TRUE(C4Value(true));
 	EXPECT_FALSE(C4Value(false));
 }
+
+TEST(C4ValueTest, ToJSON)
+{
+	// Wrapping in std::string makes GTest print something useful in case of failure.
+#define EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(a, b) EXPECT_EQ(std::string((a).getData()), std::string(b));
+
+	// simple values
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(42).ToJSON(), "42");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(-42).ToJSON(), "-42");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value("foobar").ToJSON(), R"#("foobar")#");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value("es\"caping").ToJSON(), R"#("es\"caping")#");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value("es\\caping").ToJSON(), R"#("es\\caping")#");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value("new\nline").ToJSON(), R"#("new\nline")#");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(true).ToJSON(), R"#(true)#");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(false).ToJSON(), R"#(false)#");
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value().ToJSON(), R"#(null)#");
+
+	// proplists
+	auto proplist = C4PropList::NewStatic(nullptr, nullptr, nullptr);
+	proplist->SetProperty(P_Options, C4Value("options"));
+	proplist->SetProperty(P_Min, C4Value(13));
+	auto nested = C4PropList::NewStatic(nullptr, nullptr, nullptr);
+	nested->SetProperty(P_Description, C4Value(true));
+	proplist->SetProperty(P_Storage, C4Value(nested));
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(proplist).ToJSON(), R"#({"Min":13,"Options":"options","Storage":{"Description":true}})#");
+
+	auto crazy_key = C4PropList::NewStatic(nullptr, nullptr, nullptr);
+	auto key = Strings.RegString("foo\"bar");
+	proplist->SetPropertyByS(key, C4Value(42));
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(proplist).ToJSON(), R"#({"foo\"bar":42})#");
+
+	// arrays
+	auto array = new C4ValueArray(3);
+	array->SetItem(0, C4Value(1));
+	array->SetItem(1, C4Value(2));
+	array->SetItem(2, C4Value(3));
+	EXPECT_STDSTRBUF_EQ(C4Value(array).ToJSON(), R"#([1,2,3])#");
+}
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 6fb919b4b..0bac3577a 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -130,6 +130,15 @@ if (GTEST_FOUND AND GMOCK_FOUND)
         LIBRARIES
             libmisc
             libc4script)
+    # This is included in "tests" (above) as well, but that executable currently doesn't compile.
+    create_test(c4value_test
+        SOURCES
+	    C4ValueTest.cpp
+            ../src/script/C4ScriptStandaloneStubs.cpp
+            ../src/script/C4ScriptStandalone.cpp
+        LIBRARIES
+            libmisc
+            libc4script)
 else()
     set(_gtest_missing "")
     if (NOT GTEST_INCLUDE_DIR)