diff --git a/src/main/java/net/sf/json/JSONSerializer.java b/src/main/java/net/sf/json/JSONSerializer.java
index 904cb151..3d87fb0d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/sf/json/JSONSerializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/sf/json/JSONSerializer.java
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ public static JSON toJSON( Object object, JsonConfig jsonConfig ) {
          json = toJSON( (String) object, jsonConfig );
       }else if( JSONUtils.isArray( object ) ){
          json = JSONArray.fromObject( object, jsonConfig );
+      }else if( object instanceof JSONObject){
+         json = (JSONObject)object;
       }else{
          try{
             json = JSONObject.fromObject( object, jsonConfig );
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/sf/json/TestJSONObject.java b/src/test/java/net/sf/json/TestJSONObject.java
index 719e0698..0ac11da0 100644
--- a/src/test/java/net/sf/json/TestJSONObject.java
+++ b/src/test/java/net/sf/json/TestJSONObject.java
@@ -376,6 +376,16 @@ public void testElement_Object() {
             jsonObject.getJSONObject( "bean" ) );
    }
 
+   public void testElement_Object_nested() {
+      JSONObject jsonObject1 = new JSONObject();
+      jsonObject1.element( "str", "\"[]\"" );
+      Assertions.assertTrue(jsonObject1.get( "str" ) instanceof String);
+
+      JSONObject jsonObject2 = new JSONObject();
+      jsonObject2.element( "obj", jsonObject1);
+      Assertions.assertTrue(jsonObject2.getJSONObject( "obj" ).get( "str" ) instanceof String);
+   }
+
    public void testElement_String() {
       JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject();
       jsonObject.element( "str", "json" );