diff --git a/manifest b/manifest
index 8a5c90e20d..97725044f7 100644
--- a/manifest
+++ b/manifest
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-C Additional\srefactoring\sand\scleanup.
-D 2023-09-29T16:37:22.006
+C The\su.zJContent\sfield\sof\sJsonNode\sfor\sa\sstring\sor\slabel\sshould\sNOT\sinclude\nthe\squotation\smark\sdelimiters.\s\sEver.\s\sThis\sis\san\sinefficiency\sthat\sreally\nought\sto\sbe\sfixed\son\strunk,\sbut\sthat\scan\swait\suntil\sthis\sbranch\slands.
+D 2023-09-29T19:47:25.994
 F .fossil-settings/empty-dirs dbb81e8fc0401ac46a1491ab34a7f2c7c0452f2f06b54ebb845d024ca8283ef1
 F .fossil-settings/ignore-glob 35175cdfcf539b2318cb04a9901442804be81cd677d8b889fcc9149c21f239ea
 F LICENSE.md df5091916dbb40e6e9686186587125e1b2ff51f022cc334e886c19a0e9982724
@@ -670,7 +670,7 @@ F src/hash.h 3340ab6e1d13e725571d7cee6d3e3135f0779a7d8e76a9ce0a85971fa3953c51
 F src/hwtime.h f9c2dfb84dce7acf95ce6d289e46f5f9d3d1afd328e53da8f8e9008e3b3caae6
 F src/in-operator.md 10cd8f4bcd225a32518407c2fb2484089112fd71
 F src/insert.c 3f0a94082d978bbdd33c38fefea15346c6c6bffb70bc645a71dc0f1f87dd3276
-F src/json.c d7de85731741831d299cfd76520f6af7e72b3b175f3cbfe22d0454e8abbb6090
+F src/json.c 2112b76a0d0ed938df844dcac57170ef825c6fb92f0bb1e2c35360d77fa8abbd
 F src/legacy.c d7874bc885906868cd51e6c2156698f2754f02d9eee1bae2d687323c3ca8e5aa
 F src/loadext.c 98cfba10989b3da6f1807ad42444017742db7f100a54f1032af7a8b1295912c0
 F src/main.c 618aeb399e993cf561864f4b0cf6a331ee4f355cf663635f8d9da3193a46aa40
@@ -2123,8 +2123,8 @@ F vsixtest/vsixtest.tcl 6a9a6ab600c25a91a7acc6293828957a386a8a93
 F vsixtest/vsixtest.vcxproj.data 2ed517e100c66dc455b492e1a33350c1b20fbcdc
 F vsixtest/vsixtest.vcxproj.filters 37e51ffedcdb064aad6ff33b6148725226cd608e
 F vsixtest/vsixtest_TemporaryKey.pfx e5b1b036facdb453873e7084e1cae9102ccc67a0
-P 9b620d813ef483f1277c1683c5e926a882f07f3b90804dea0c91b325ff8e45a4
-R bcca84e0a588bc606d4e22707cc86ed4
+P 45dd1760875b1ad899a10189c6f5a0a9a0677903794fb5a06ffacd39952a7882
+R 0ad6f1d70a03e9858beb1d83ab248cfc
 U drh
-Z 4c6f8cb9c19d993b3edfba11c172dd33
+Z ecabd724f6e30a2efa3505d39eb1f7e4
 # Remove this line to create a well-formed Fossil manifest.
diff --git a/manifest.uuid b/manifest.uuid
index 9118fea8e8..fd367b5df4 100644
--- a/manifest.uuid
+++ b/manifest.uuid
@@ -1 +1 @@
-45dd1760875b1ad899a10189c6f5a0a9a0677903794fb5a06ffacd39952a7882
\ No newline at end of file
+96f545f6f839dab4829861361ee3d7a56840217c5f954f334616e77d23c5fe29
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/json.c b/src/json.c
index b381e7b28e..9b988c1b66 100644
--- a/src/json.c
+++ b/src/json.c
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ static void jsonAppendRaw(JsonString *p, const char *zIn, u32 N){
   }
 }
 static void jsonAppendRawNZ(JsonString *p, const char *zIn, u32 N){
-  assert( N>0 );
+  if( N==0 ) return;
   if( N+p->nUsed >= p->nAlloc ){
     jsonStringExpandAndAppend(p,zIn,N);
   }else{
@@ -557,8 +557,6 @@ static void jsonAppendString(JsonString *p, const char *zIn, u32 N){
 static void jsonAppendNormalizedString(JsonString *p, const char *zIn, u32 N){
   u32 i;
   jsonAppendChar(p, '"');
-  zIn++;
-  N -= 2;
   while( N>0 ){
     for(i=0; i<N && zIn[i]!='\\'; i++){}
     if( i>0 ){
@@ -894,8 +892,9 @@ static void jsonRenderNodeAsText(
       }else if( pNode->jnFlags & JNODE_JSON5 ){
         jsonAppendNormalizedString(pOut, pNode->u.zJContent, pNode->n);
       }else{
-        assert( pNode->n>0 );
+        jsonAppendChar(pOut, '"');
         jsonAppendRawNZ(pOut, pNode->u.zJContent, pNode->n);
+        jsonAppendChar(pOut, '"');
       }
       break;
     }
@@ -1118,7 +1117,7 @@ static void jsonReturnNodeAsSql(
       }else if( (pNode->jnFlags & JNODE_ESCAPE)==0 ){
         /* JSON formatted without any backslash-escapes */
         assert( pNode->eU==1 );
-        sqlite3_result_text(pCtx, pNode->u.zJContent+1, pNode->n-2,
+        sqlite3_result_text(pCtx, pNode->u.zJContent, pNode->n,
                             SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
       }else{
         /* Translate JSON formatted string into raw text */
@@ -1135,7 +1134,7 @@ static void jsonReturnNodeAsSql(
           sqlite3_result_error_nomem(pCtx);
           break;
         }
-        for(i=1, j=0; i<n-1; i++){
+        for(i=0, j=0; i<n; i++){
           char c = z[i];
           if( c=='\\' ){
             c = z[++i];
@@ -1705,7 +1704,7 @@ json_parse_restart:
         return -1;
       }
     }
-    jsonParseAddNode(pParse, JSON_STRING | (jnFlags<<8), j+1-i, &z[i]);
+    jsonParseAddNode(pParse, JSON_STRING | (jnFlags<<8), j-1-i, &z[i+1]);
     return j+1;
   }
   case 't': {
@@ -2183,13 +2182,8 @@ static JsonParse *jsonParseCached(
 */
 static int jsonLabelCompare(const JsonNode *pNode, const char *zKey, u32 nKey){
   assert( pNode->eU==1 );
-  if( pNode->jnFlags & JNODE_RAW ){
-    if( pNode->n!=nKey ) return 0;
-    return strncmp(pNode->u.zJContent, zKey, nKey)==0;
-  }else{
-    if( pNode->n!=nKey+2 ) return 0;
-    return strncmp(pNode->u.zJContent+1, zKey, nKey)==0;
-  }
+  if( pNode->n!=nKey ) return 0;
+  return strncmp(pNode->u.zJContent, zKey, nKey)==0;
 }
 static int jsonSameLabel(const JsonNode *p1, const JsonNode *p2){
   if( p1->jnFlags & JNODE_RAW ){
@@ -5169,26 +5163,28 @@ static void jsonAppendObjectPathElement(
   JsonString *pStr,
   JsonNode *pNode
 ){
-  int jj, nn;
+  int nn;
   const char *z;
+  int bNeedQuote = 0;
   assert( pNode->eType==JSON_STRING );
   assert( pNode->jnFlags & JNODE_LABEL );
   assert( pNode->eU==1 );
   z = pNode->u.zJContent;
   nn = pNode->n;
-  if( (pNode->jnFlags & JNODE_RAW)==0 ){
-    assert( nn>=2 );
-    assert( z[0]=='"' || z[0]=='\'' );
-    assert( z[nn-1]=='"' || z[0]=='\'' );
-    if( nn>2 && sqlite3Isalpha(z[1]) ){
-      for(jj=2; jj<nn-1 && sqlite3Isalnum(z[jj]); jj++){}
-      if( jj==nn-1 ){
-        z++;
-        nn -= 2;
-      }
-    }
+  if( pNode->jnFlags & JNODE_RAW ){
+    /* no-op */
+  }else if( nn==0 || !sqlite3Isalpha(z[0]) ){
+    bNeedQuote = 1;
+  }else{
+    int jj;
+    for(jj=1; jj<nn && sqlite3Isalnum(z[jj]); jj++){}
+    bNeedQuote = jj<nn;
+  }
+  if( bNeedQuote ){
+    jsonPrintf(nn+4, pStr, ".\"%.*s\"", nn, z);
+  }else{
+    jsonPrintf(nn+2, pStr, ".%.*s", nn, z);
   }
-  jsonPrintf(nn+2, pStr, ".%.*s", nn, z);
 }
 
 /* Append the name of the path for element i to pStr