diff --git a/decode.go b/decode.go
index 3f9fe1f..59b6fd1 100644
--- a/decode.go
+++ b/decode.go
@@ -361,6 +361,52 @@ func (d *decodeState) scanWhile(op int) {
 	d.opcode = d.scan.eof()
 }
 
+// rescanLiteral is similar to scanWhile(scanContinue), but it specialises the
+// common case where we're decoding a literal. The decoder scans the input
+// twice, once for syntax errors and to check the length of the value, and the
+// second to perform the decoding.
+//
+// Only in the second step do we use decodeState to tokenize literals, so we
+// know there aren't any syntax errors. We can take advantage of that knowledge,
+// and scan a literal's bytes much more quickly.
+func (d *decodeState) rescanLiteral() {
+	data, i := d.data, d.off
+Switch:
+	switch data[i-1] {
+	case '"': // string
+		for ; i < len(data); i++ {
+			switch data[i] {
+			case '\\':
+				i++ // escaped char
+			case '"':
+				i++ // tokenize the closing quote too
+				break Switch
+			}
+		}
+	case '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '-': // number
+		for ; i < len(data); i++ {
+			switch data[i] {
+			case '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9',
+				'.', 'e', 'E', '+', '-':
+			default:
+				break Switch
+			}
+		}
+	case 't': // true
+		i += len("rue")
+	case 'f': // false
+		i += len("alse")
+	case 'n': // null
+		i += len("ull")
+	}
+	if i < len(data) {
+		d.opcode = stateEndValue(&d.scan, data[i])
+	} else {
+		d.opcode = scanEnd
+	}
+	d.off = i + 1
+}
+
 // value consumes a JSON value from d.data[d.off-1:], decoding into v, and
 // reads the following byte ahead. If v is invalid, the value is discarded.
 // The first byte of the value has been read already.
@@ -392,7 +438,7 @@ func (d *decodeState) value(v reflect.Value) error {
 	case scanBeginLiteral:
 		// All bytes inside literal return scanContinue op code.
 		start := d.readIndex()
-		d.scanWhile(scanContinue)
+		d.rescanLiteral()
 
 		if v.IsValid() {
 			if err := d.literalStore(d.data[start:d.readIndex()], v, false); err != nil {
@@ -677,7 +723,7 @@ func (d *decodeState) object(v reflect.Value) error {
 
 		// Read key.
 		start := d.readIndex()
-		d.scanWhile(scanContinue)
+		d.rescanLiteral()
 		item := d.data[start:d.readIndex()]
 		key, ok := unquoteBytes(item)
 		if !ok {
@@ -1083,7 +1129,7 @@ func (d *decodeState) objectInterface() map[string]interface{} {
 
 		// Read string key.
 		start := d.readIndex()
-		d.scanWhile(scanContinue)
+		d.rescanLiteral()
 		item := d.data[start:d.readIndex()]
 		key, ok := unquote(item)
 		if !ok {
@@ -1122,7 +1168,7 @@ func (d *decodeState) objectInterface() map[string]interface{} {
 func (d *decodeState) literalInterface() interface{} {
 	// All bytes inside literal return scanContinue op code.
 	start := d.readIndex()
-	d.scanWhile(scanContinue)
+	d.rescanLiteral()
 
 	item := d.data[start:d.readIndex()]