1 files changed, 7 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils.py b/yt_dlp/utils.py
index 43b5fda1d..64c83a77a 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils.py
@@ -3360,7 +3360,13 @@ def js_to_json(code, vars={}, *, strict=False):
                 return f'"{i}":' if v.endswith(':') else str(i)
 
         if v in vars:
-            return json.dumps(vars[v])
+            try:
+                if not strict:
+                    json.loads(vars[v])
+            except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
+                return json.dumps(vars[v])
+            else:
+                return vars[v]
 
         if not strict:
             return f'"{v}"'