diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c737e2c66..bcb3241b7 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1588,6 +1588,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex",
  "serde",
  "serde_derive",
+ "serde_json",
  "termbg",
  "tokio",
  "toml",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d1eb3b6e8..175140eab 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ minus         = { version = "5.7", features = ["static_output", "search"] }
 once_cell     = "1.21.4"
 serde         = "1.0"
 serde_derive  = "1.0"
+serde_json    = "1.0"
 termbg        = "0.6.2"
 tokio         = { version = "1.52", optional = true, features = ["rt"] }
 toml          = "1.1"
diff --git a/src/column.rs b/src/column.rs
index 87b019b5a..3ec8920fb 100644
--- a/src/column.rs
+++ b/src/column.rs
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ macro_rules! column_default_display_json {
                 let value = value.replace("\"", "\\\"");
                 format!("\"{}\"", value)
             };
-            format!("\"{}\": {}", self.header, value)
+            let header = serde_json::to_string(&self.header).unwrap();
+            format!("{}: {}", header, value)
         }
     };
 }
diff --git a/src/columns/pid.rs b/src/columns/pid.rs
index 512d64ffd..1f304554e 100644
--- a/src/columns/pid.rs
+++ b/src/columns/pid.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,23 @@ impl Pid {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn json_escapes_custom_header() {
+        for header in ["PID", "Process \"ID\"", "Path\\ID", "Process\nID", "Process\tID"] {
+            let mut column = Pid::new(Some(header.into()));
+            column.raw_contents.insert(201, 201);
+            column.fmt_contents.insert(201, "201".into());
+            let json = format!("{{{}}}", column.display_json(201));
+            let row: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(row[header], 201);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "android"))]
 impl Column for Pid {
     fn add(&mut self, proc: &ProcessInfo) {