diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e28e2e8f..0360c499 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ The options for decode are:
   will ensure that the parsed object only contains a single entry
   containing the last value seen. This mirrors the parsing beahvior
   of virtually every other JSON parser.
+* `attempt_atom` - Attempts to convert keys to existing atoms. Will
+  return keys as binaries if the atom does not exists.
 * `copy_strings` - Normally, when strings are decoded, they are
   created as sub-binaries of the input data. With some workloads, this
   leads to an undesirable bloating of memory: Strings in the decode
@@ -91,8 +93,8 @@ The options for encode are:
 Data Format
 -----------
 
-    Erlang                          JSON            Erlang
-    ==========================================================================
+    Erlang                          JSON            Erlang                           Notes
+    ======================================================================================
 
     null                       -> null           -> null
     true                       -> true           -> true
@@ -107,11 +109,17 @@ Data Format
     {[]}                       -> {}             -> {[]}
     {[{foo, bar}]}             -> {"foo": "bar"} -> {[{<<"foo">>, <<"bar">>}]}
     {[{<<"foo">>, <<"bar">>}]} -> {"foo": "bar"} -> {[{<<"foo">>, <<"bar">>}]}
-    #{<<"foo">> => <<"bar">>}  -> {"foo": "bar"} -> #{<<"foo">> => <<"bar">>}
+    #{<<"foo">> => <<"bar">>}  -> {"foo": "bar"} -> #{<<"foo">> => <<"bar">>}          (1)
+    {[{<<"foo">>, <<"bar">>}]} -> {"foo": "bar"} -> {[{foo, <<"bar">>}]}               (2)
+    #{<<"foo">> => <<"bar">>}  -> {"foo": "bar"} -> #{foo => <<"bar">>}             (1, 2)
+
+Note 1: This entry is only valid for VM's that support the `maps` data type
+        (i.e., 17.0 and newer) and client code must pass the `return_maps`
+        option to `jiffy:decode/2`.
+
+Note 2: This entry is only valid if the atom existed before and the client code must
+        pass the `attempt_atom` option to `jiffy:decode/2`.
 
-N.B. The last entry in this table is only valid for VM's that support
-the `maps` data type (i.e., 17.0 and newer) and client code must pass
-the `return_maps` option to `jiffy:decode/2`.
 
 Improvements over EEP0018
 -------------------------
diff --git a/c_src/decoder.c b/c_src/decoder.c
index 8f78117c..70bcff56 100644
--- a/c_src/decoder.c
+++ b/c_src/decoder.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ typedef struct {
     int             return_trailer;
     int             dedupe_keys;
     int             copy_strings;
+    int             attempt_atom;
     ERL_NIF_TERM    null_term;
 
     unsigned char*  p;
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ dec_new(ErlNifEnv* env)
     d->return_trailer = 0;
     d->dedupe_keys = 0;
     d->copy_strings = 0;
+    d->attempt_atom = 0;
     d->null_term = d->atoms->atom_null;
 
     d->p = NULL;
@@ -695,6 +697,8 @@ decode_init(ErlNifEnv* env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[])
             d->null_term = d->atoms->atom_nil;
         } else if(get_null_term(env, val, &(d->null_term))) {
             continue;
+        } else if(enif_is_identical(val, d->atoms->atom_attempt_atom)) {
+            d->attempt_atom = 1;
         } else {
             return enif_make_badarg(env);
         }
@@ -980,7 +984,7 @@ decode_iter(ErlNifEnv* env, int argc, const ERL_NIF_TERM argv[])
                         }
                         dec_pop_assert(d, st_value);
                         if(!make_object(env, curr, &val,
-                                d->return_maps, d->dedupe_keys)) {
+                                d->return_maps, d->dedupe_keys, d->attempt_atom)) {
                             ret = dec_error(d, "internal_object_error");
                             goto done;
                         }
diff --git a/c_src/jiffy.c b/c_src/jiffy.c
index dfca7c70..b13da2d5 100644
--- a/c_src/jiffy.c
+++ b/c_src/jiffy.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ load(ErlNifEnv* env, void** priv, ERL_NIF_TERM info)
     st->atom_escape_forward_slashes = make_atom(env, "escape_forward_slashes");
     st->atom_dedupe_keys = make_atom(env, "dedupe_keys");
     st->atom_copy_strings = make_atom(env, "copy_strings");
+    st->atom_attempt_atom = make_atom(env, "attempt_atom");
 
     // Markers used in encoding
     st->ref_object = make_atom(env, "$object_ref$");
diff --git a/c_src/jiffy.h b/c_src/jiffy.h
index 9c97945d..806ca7eb 100644
--- a/c_src/jiffy.h
+++ b/c_src/jiffy.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ typedef struct {
     ERL_NIF_TERM    atom_escape_forward_slashes;
     ERL_NIF_TERM    atom_dedupe_keys;
     ERL_NIF_TERM    atom_copy_strings;
+    ERL_NIF_TERM    atom_attempt_atom;
 
     ERL_NIF_TERM    ref_object;
     ERL_NIF_TERM    ref_array;
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ void dec_destroy(ErlNifEnv* env, void* obj);
 void enc_destroy(ErlNifEnv* env, void* obj);
 
 int make_object(ErlNifEnv* env, ERL_NIF_TERM pairs, ERL_NIF_TERM* out,
-        int ret_map, int dedupe_keys);
+        int ret_map, int dedupe_keys, int attempt_atom);
 
 int int_from_hex(const unsigned char* p);
 int int_to_hex(int val, unsigned char* p);
diff --git a/c_src/objects.cc b/c_src/objects.cc
index 1a16699c..4dca879c 100644
--- a/c_src/objects.cc
+++ b/c_src/objects.cc
@@ -17,9 +17,23 @@
 
 BEGIN_C
 
+static ERL_NIF_TERM
+key_attempt_atom(ErlNifEnv* env, ERL_NIF_TERM key) {
+    ERL_NIF_TERM keyatom;
+    ErlNifBinary keybin;
+
+    if(enif_inspect_binary(env, key, &keybin) && keybin.size < 256) {
+      if(enif_make_existing_atom_len(env, (char *)keybin.data, keybin.size,
+                                     &keyatom, ERL_NIF_UTF8)) {
+            return keyatom;
+        }
+    }
+    return key;
+}
+
 int
 make_object(ErlNifEnv* env, ERL_NIF_TERM pairs, ERL_NIF_TERM* out,
-	int ret_map, int dedupe_keys)
+	int ret_map, int dedupe_keys, int attempt_atom)
 {
     ERL_NIF_TERM ret;
     ERL_NIF_TERM key;
@@ -37,6 +51,9 @@ make_object(ErlNifEnv* env, ERL_NIF_TERM pairs, ERL_NIF_TERM* out,
             if(!enif_get_list_cell(env, pairs, &key, &pairs)) {
                 assert(0 == 1 && "Unbalanced object pairs.");
             }
+            if(attempt_atom) {
+                key = key_attempt_atom(env, key);
+            }
             if(!enif_get_map_value(env, ret, key, &old_val)) {
                 if(!enif_make_map_put(env, ret, key, val, &ret)) {
                     return 0;
@@ -53,6 +70,9 @@ make_object(ErlNifEnv* env, ERL_NIF_TERM pairs, ERL_NIF_TERM* out,
         if(!enif_get_list_cell(env, pairs, &key, &pairs)) {
             assert(0 == 1 && "Unbalanced object pairs.");
         }
+        if(attempt_atom) {
+            key = key_attempt_atom(env, key);
+        }
         if(dedupe_keys) {
             ErlNifBinary bin;
             if(!enif_inspect_binary(env, key, &bin)) {
diff --git a/src/jiffy.erl b/src/jiffy.erl
index 6af15b5f..720920eb 100644
--- a/src/jiffy.erl
+++ b/src/jiffy.erl
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
                         | return_trailer
                         | dedupe_keys
                         | copy_strings
+                        | attempt_atom
                         | {null_term, any()}
                         | {bytes_per_iter, non_neg_integer()}
                         | {bytes_per_red, non_neg_integer()}.
diff --git a/test/jiffy_16_attempt_atom_tests.erl b/test/jiffy_16_attempt_atom_tests.erl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8f58c85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/jiffy_16_attempt_atom_tests.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+% This file is part of Jiffy released under the MIT license.
+% See the LICENSE file for more information.
+
+-module(jiffy_16_attempt_atom_tests).
+
+-include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
+
+attempt_atom_test_() ->
+    Opts = [attempt_atom],
+    _ = key_is_atom,
+    Cases = [
+        {<<"{\"key_no_atom\":1}">>, {[{<<"key_no_atom">>, 1}]}},
+        {<<"{\"key_is_atom\":1}">>, {[{key_is_atom, 1}]}}
+    ],
+    {"Test attempt_atom", lists:map(fun({Data, Result}) ->
+        ?_assertEqual(Result, jiffy:decode(Data, Opts))
+    end, Cases)}.
+
+-ifndef(JIFFY_NO_MAPS).
+
+attempt_atom_map_test_() ->
+    Opts = [attempt_atom, return_maps],
+    _ = key_is_atom,
+    Cases = [
+        {<<"{\"key_no_atom\":1}">>, #{<<"key_no_atom">> => 1}},
+        {<<"{\"key_is_atom\":1}">>, #{key_is_atom => 1}}
+    ],
+    {"Test attempt_atom_map", lists:map(fun({Data, Result}) ->
+        ?_assertEqual(Result, jiffy:decode(Data, Opts))
+    end, Cases)}.
+
+-endif.