diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_php_generator.cc b/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_php_generator.cc
index c6d6f99..0c255ec 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_php_generator.cc
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_php_generator.cc
@@ -1097,6 +1097,8 @@
       indent(out) << "$json->" << name << " = ";
       if (type->is_map()) {
         out << "(object)";
+      } else {
+        out << type_to_cast(type);
       }
       out << "$this->" << name << ";" << endl;
       indent_down();
diff --git a/lib/php/test/Test/Thrift/JsonSerialize/JsonSerializeTest.php b/lib/php/test/Test/Thrift/JsonSerialize/JsonSerializeTest.php
index 40003ed..2471b52 100644
--- a/lib/php/test/Test/Thrift/JsonSerialize/JsonSerializeTest.php
+++ b/lib/php/test/Test/Thrift/JsonSerialize/JsonSerializeTest.php
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@
 
 class JsonSerializeTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 {
+  protected function setUp() {
+    if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.4', '<')) {
+      $this->markTestSkipped('Requires PHP 5.4 or newer!');
+    }
+  }
 
   public function testEmptyStruct()
   {
@@ -100,4 +105,12 @@
     $this->assertEquals('{}', json_encode($emptymap));
   }
 
+  public function testScalarTypes()
+  {
+    $b = new \ThriftTest\Bools(['im_true' => '1', 'im_false' => '0']);
+    $this->assertEquals('{"im_true":true,"im_false":false}', json_encode($b));
+    $s = new \ThriftTest\StructA(['s' => 42]);
+    $this->assertEquals('{"s":"42"}', json_encode($s));
+  }
+
 }