diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/dump.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/dump.md
index a3c9db3a8..18b516a9e 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/dump.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/dump.md
@@ -25,10 +25,15 @@ and `ensure_ascii` parameters.
     result consists of ASCII characters only.
 
 `error_handler` (in)
-:   how to react on decoding errors; there are three possible values (see [`error_handler_t`](error_handler_t.md):
-    `strict` (throws an exception in case a decoding error occurs; default), `replace` (replace invalid UTF-8 sequences
-    with U+FFFD), and `ignore` (ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences during serialization; all valid bytes are copied to the
-    output unchanged, and invalid bytes are dropped)).
+:   how to react on decoding errors; there are four possible values (see [`error_handler_t`](error_handler_t.md)):
+
+    - `strict`: throw a [`type_error`](../../home/exceptions.md#type-errors) exception in case a decoding error occurs
+      (default),
+    - `replace`: replace invalid UTF-8 sequences with U+FFFD (� REPLACEMENT CHARACTER),
+    - `ignore`: ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences during serialization; all valid bytes are copied to the output unchanged,
+      and invalid bytes are dropped, and
+    - `keep`: keep invalid UTF-8 sequences during serialization; all bytes are copied to the output unchanged, so the
+      result is not valid UTF-8.
     
 ## Return value
 
@@ -94,3 +99,4 @@ Binary values are serialized as an object containing two keys:
 - Indentation character `indent_char`, option `ensure_ascii` and exceptions added in version 3.0.0.
 - Error handlers added in version 3.4.0.
 - Serialization of binary values added in version 3.8.0.
+- Error handler value `keep` added in version 3.13.0.
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/error_handler_t.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/error_handler_t.md
index f20c33c03..5fedfe9f8 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/error_handler_t.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/error_handler_t.md
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@
 enum class error_handler_t {
     strict,
     replace,
-    ignore
+    ignore,
+    keep
 };
 ```
 
 This enumeration is used in the [`dump`](dump.md) function to choose how to treat decoding errors while serializing a
-`basic_json` value. Three values are differentiated:
+`basic_json` value. Four values are differentiated:
 
 strict
 :   throw a `type_error` exception in case of invalid UTF-8
@@ -20,6 +21,12 @@ replace
 ignore
 :   ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences; all valid bytes are copied to the output unchanged, and invalid bytes are dropped
 
+keep
+:   keep invalid UTF-8 sequences; all bytes are copied to the output unchanged. Valid characters are still escaped as
+    usual (e.g., `"`, `\\`, and control characters), so the result has valid JSON syntax, but it is not valid UTF-8.
+    In particular, [`parse`](parse.md) rejects it, and with `ensure_ascii` set to `true`, the invalid bytes are the
+    only non-ASCII bytes of the output.
+
 ## Examples
 
 ??? example
@@ -40,3 +47,4 @@ ignore
 ## Version history
 
 - Added in version 3.4.0.
+- Added value `keep` in version 3.13.0.
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.cpp b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.cpp
index b4718d7e6..e5090aaec 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.cpp
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include <iomanip>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
@@ -21,4 +22,12 @@ int main()
               << "\nstring with ignored invalid characters: "
               << j_invalid.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore)
               << '\n';
+
+    // the invalid byte is kept; print the result byte-wise to make it visible
+    std::cout << "string with kept invalid characters:";
+    for (const unsigned char c : j_invalid.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep))
+    {
+        std::cout << ' ' << std::hex << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << static_cast<int>(c);
+    }
+    std::cout << '\n';
 }
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.output b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.output
index 718d62bee..12c374dba 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.output
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/examples/error_handler_t.output
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [json.exception.type_error.316] invalid UTF-8 byte at index 2: 0xA9
 string with replaced invalid characters: "ä�ü"
 string with ignored invalid characters: "äü"
+string with kept invalid characters: 22 c3 a4 a9 c3 bc 22
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/serialization.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/serialization.md
index a875fcdde..b74e10cf4 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/serialization.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/features/serialization.md
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ serialization fails by default. The fourth argument of `dump` selects an
 - `strict` (default) — throw a [`type_error.316`](../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error316) exception.
 - `replace` — replace invalid bytes with the Unicode replacement character U+FFFD (`�`).
 - `ignore` — silently drop invalid bytes.
+- `keep` — copy invalid bytes to the output unchanged; the result is not valid UTF-8.
 
 ??? example
 
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md
index ee76596f6..86da22b13 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/exceptions.md
@@ -755,6 +755,7 @@ The `dump()` function only works with UTF-8 encoded strings; that is, if you ass
     - Pass an error handler as last parameter to the `dump()` function to avoid this exception:
         - `json::error_handler_t::replace` will replace invalid bytes sequences with `U+FFFD` 
         - `json::error_handler_t::ignore` will silently ignore invalid byte sequences
+        - `json::error_handler_t::keep` will copy invalid byte sequences to the output unchanged
 
 ### json.exception.type_error.317
 
diff --git a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/faq.md b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/faq.md
index 8b3602bd1..7340af63c 100644
--- a/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/faq.md
+++ b/docs/mkdocs/docs/home/faq.md
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ The library supports **Unicode input** as follows:
 - The library will not replace [Unicode noncharacters](http://www.unicode.org/faq/private_use.html#nonchar1).
 - Invalid surrogates (e.g., incomplete pairs such as `\uDEAD`) will yield parse errors.
 - The strings stored in the library are UTF-8 encoded. When using the default string type (`std::string`), note that its length/size functions return the number of stored bytes rather than the number of characters or glyphs.
-- When you store strings with different encodings in the library, calling [`dump()`](https://nlohmann.github.io/json/classnlohmann_1_1basic__json_a50ec80b02d0f3f51130d4abb5d1cfdc5.html#a50ec80b02d0f3f51130d4abb5d1cfdc5) may throw an exception unless `json::error_handler_t::replace` or `json::error_handler_t::ignore` are used as error handlers.
+- When you store strings with different encodings in the library, calling [`dump()`](https://nlohmann.github.io/json/classnlohmann_1_1basic__json_a50ec80b02d0f3f51130d4abb5d1cfdc5.html#a50ec80b02d0f3f51130d4abb5d1cfdc5) may throw an exception unless `json::error_handler_t::replace`, `json::error_handler_t::ignore`, or `json::error_handler_t::keep` are used as error handlers.
 
 In most cases, the parser is right to complain, because the input is not UTF-8 encoded. This is especially true for Microsoft Windows, where Latin-1 or ISO 8859-1 is often the standard encoding.
 
diff --git a/include/nlohmann/detail/output/serializer.hpp b/include/nlohmann/detail/output/serializer.hpp
index f968b6001..8eb038835 100644
--- a/include/nlohmann/detail/output/serializer.hpp
+++ b/include/nlohmann/detail/output/serializer.hpp
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ enum class error_handler_t
 {
     strict,  ///< throw a type_error exception in case of invalid UTF-8
     replace, ///< replace invalid UTF-8 sequences with U+FFFD
-    ignore   ///< ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences
+    ignore,  ///< ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences
+    keep     ///< keep invalid UTF-8 sequences; their bytes are copied unchanged
 };
 
 template<typename BasicJsonType>
@@ -1019,6 +1020,47 @@ class serializer
                             break;
                         }
 
+                        case error_handler_t::keep:
+                        {
+                            // drop whatever the incomplete sequence left in
+                            // the buffer (only copied if !EnsureAscii) and copy
+                            // the ill-formed bytes from the input instead
+                            bytes = bytes_after_last_accept;
+
+                            if (undumped_chars > 0)
+                            {
+                                // the pending bytes of the incomplete sequence
+                                // are ill-formed; the current byte may be OK for
+                                // itself, so we would like to read it again
+                                for (std::size_t j = i - undumped_chars; j < i; ++j)
+                                {
+                                    string_buffer[bytes++] = s[j];
+                                }
+                                --i;
+                            }
+                            else
+                            {
+                                // the current byte cannot start any sequence
+                                string_buffer[bytes++] = s[i];
+                            }
+
+                            // write buffer and reset index; there must be 13 bytes
+                            // left, as this is the maximal number of bytes to be
+                            // written ("\uxxxx\uxxxx\0") for one code point
+                            if (string_buffer.size() - bytes < 13)
+                            {
+                                put_buffer(string_buffer, bytes);
+                                bytes = 0;
+                            }
+
+                            bytes_after_last_accept = bytes;
+                            undumped_chars = 0;
+
+                            // continue processing the string
+                            state = UTF8_ACCEPT;
+                            break;
+                        }
+
                         default:            // LCOV_EXCL_LINE
                             JSON_ASSERT(false); // NOLINT(cert-dcl03-c,hicpp-static-assert,misc-static-assert) LCOV_EXCL_LINE
                     }
@@ -1064,6 +1106,15 @@ class serializer
                     break;
                 }
 
+                case error_handler_t::keep:
+                {
+                    // write all accepted bytes
+                    put_buffer(string_buffer, bytes_after_last_accept);
+                    // copy the bytes of the incomplete sequence unchanged
+                    put_string(s, s.size() - undumped_chars, s.size());
+                    break;
+                }
+
                 case error_handler_t::replace:
                 {
                     // write all accepted bytes
diff --git a/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp b/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp
index 4981c3b02..cfb007dca 100644
--- a/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp
+++ b/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp
@@ -23006,7 +23006,8 @@ enum class error_handler_t
 {
     strict,  ///< throw a type_error exception in case of invalid UTF-8
     replace, ///< replace invalid UTF-8 sequences with U+FFFD
-    ignore   ///< ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences
+    ignore,  ///< ignore invalid UTF-8 sequences
+    keep     ///< keep invalid UTF-8 sequences; their bytes are copied unchanged
 };
 
 template<typename BasicJsonType>
@@ -23977,6 +23978,47 @@ class serializer
                             break;
                         }
 
+                        case error_handler_t::keep:
+                        {
+                            // drop whatever the incomplete sequence left in
+                            // the buffer (only copied if !EnsureAscii) and copy
+                            // the ill-formed bytes from the input instead
+                            bytes = bytes_after_last_accept;
+
+                            if (undumped_chars > 0)
+                            {
+                                // the pending bytes of the incomplete sequence
+                                // are ill-formed; the current byte may be OK for
+                                // itself, so we would like to read it again
+                                for (std::size_t j = i - undumped_chars; j < i; ++j)
+                                {
+                                    string_buffer[bytes++] = s[j];
+                                }
+                                --i;
+                            }
+                            else
+                            {
+                                // the current byte cannot start any sequence
+                                string_buffer[bytes++] = s[i];
+                            }
+
+                            // write buffer and reset index; there must be 13 bytes
+                            // left, as this is the maximal number of bytes to be
+                            // written ("\uxxxx\uxxxx\0") for one code point
+                            if (string_buffer.size() - bytes < 13)
+                            {
+                                put_buffer(string_buffer, bytes);
+                                bytes = 0;
+                            }
+
+                            bytes_after_last_accept = bytes;
+                            undumped_chars = 0;
+
+                            // continue processing the string
+                            state = UTF8_ACCEPT;
+                            break;
+                        }
+
                         default:            // LCOV_EXCL_LINE
                             JSON_ASSERT(false); // NOLINT(cert-dcl03-c,hicpp-static-assert,misc-static-assert) LCOV_EXCL_LINE
                     }
@@ -24022,6 +24064,15 @@ class serializer
                     break;
                 }
 
+                case error_handler_t::keep:
+                {
+                    // write all accepted bytes
+                    put_buffer(string_buffer, bytes_after_last_accept);
+                    // copy the bytes of the incomplete sequence unchanged
+                    put_string(s, s.size() - undumped_chars, s.size());
+                    break;
+                }
+
                 case error_handler_t::replace:
                 {
                     // write all accepted bytes
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-regression2.cpp b/tests/src/unit-regression2.cpp
index b128b7a73..4a65ad3b2 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-regression2.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-regression2.cpp
@@ -765,6 +765,15 @@ TEST_CASE("regression tests 2")
         CHECK(j == k);
     }
 
+    SECTION("issue #4552 - UTF-8 invalid characters are not always ignored when dumping with error_handler_t::ignore")
+    {
+        json node;
+        node["test"] = "test\334\005";
+        CHECK(node.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore) == "{\"test\":\"test\\u0005\"}");
+        CHECK(node.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "{\"test\":\"test\334\\u0005\"}");
+        CHECK(node.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "{\"test\":\"test\334\\u0005\"}");
+    }
+
 }
 
 TEST_CASE("regression test - parser callback must not lose a duplicate key's prior value")
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-serialization.cpp b/tests/src/unit-serialization.cpp
index 45617c3b3..a9c9ffcf3 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-serialization.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-serialization.cpp
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ TEST_CASE("serialization")
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore) == "\"äü\"");
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace) == "\"ä\xEF\xBF\xBDü\"");
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace) == "\"\\u00e4\\ufffd\\u00fc\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"ä\xA9ü\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\\u00e4\xA9\\u00fc\"");
         }
 
         SECTION("invalid character (regression guard for shared UTF-8 decoder, see #5529)")
@@ -114,6 +116,8 @@ TEST_CASE("serialization")
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore) == "\"123\"");
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace) == "\"123\xEF\xBF\xBD\"");
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace) == "\"123\\ufffd\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"123\xC2\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"123\xC2\"");
         }
 
         SECTION("unexpected character")
@@ -126,6 +130,39 @@ TEST_CASE("serialization")
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore) == "\"123456\"");
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace) == "\"123\xEF\xBF\xBD\x34\x35\x36\"");
             CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace) == "\"123\\ufffd456\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"123\xF1\xB0\x34\x35\x36\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"123\xF1\xB0\x34\x35\x36\"");
+        }
+
+        SECTION("keep: valid characters are still escaped")
+        {
+            // an invalid byte followed by characters that must be escaped
+            const json j = "\xC2\"\\\n\xFF\x05";
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\xC2\\\"\\\\\\n\xFF\\u0005\"");
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\xC2\\\"\\\\\\n\xFF\\u0005\"");
+        }
+
+        SECTION("keep: truncated multibyte sequences")
+        {
+            CHECK(json("\xF0\x9F\x98").dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\xF0\x9F\x98\"");
+            CHECK(json("\xF0\x9F\x98").dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\xF0\x9F\x98\"");
+            CHECK(json("\xF0\x9F\x98" "a").dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\xF0\x9F\x98" "a\"");
+            CHECK(json("\xF0\x9F\x98" "a").dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep) == "\"\xF0\x9F\x98" "a\"");
+        }
+
+        SECTION("keep: long string with many invalid bytes")
+        {
+            // exceeds the internal string buffer several times
+            std::string input;
+            std::string expected = "\"";
+            for (int i = 0; i < 2000; ++i)
+            {
+                input += "\xFF\xE2\x82\n\xC3\xA4";
+                expected += "\xFF\xE2\x82\\n\xC3\xA4";
+            }
+            expected += "\"";
+            const json j = input;
+            CHECK(j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep) == expected);
         }
 
         SECTION("U+FFFD Substitution of Maximal Subparts")
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-unicode2.cpp b/tests/src/unit-unicode2.cpp
index a9649b4de..f77528d5a 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-unicode2.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-unicode2.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 using nlohmann::json;
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -75,8 +76,11 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     static std::string s_replaced2;
     static std::string s_replaced_ascii;
     static std::string s_replaced2_ascii;
+    static std::string s_kept;
+    static std::string s_kept2;
+    static std::string s_kept_ascii;
 
-    // dumping with ignore/replace must not throw in any case
+    // dumping with ignore/replace/keep must not throw in any case
     s_ignored = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
@@ -85,6 +89,9 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     s_replaced2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced2_ascii = j2.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
+    s_kept = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep);
 
     if (success_expected)
     {
@@ -94,6 +101,7 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
         // all dumps should agree on the string
         CHECK(s_strict == s_ignored);
         CHECK(s_strict == s_replaced);
+        CHECK(s_strict == s_kept);
     }
     else
     {
@@ -105,6 +113,20 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
 
         // check that replace string contains a replacement character
         CHECK(s_replaced.find("\xEF\xBF\xBD") != std::string::npos);
+
+        // ignore drops the invalid bytes, keep copies them
+        CHECK(s_ignored != s_kept);
+        CHECK(s_ignored_ascii != s_kept_ascii);
+
+        // unless a byte needs escaping, keep copies the input unchanged
+        const bool needs_escaping = std::any_of(json_string.begin(), json_string.end(), [](char c)
+        {
+            return static_cast<unsigned char>(c) < 0x20 || c == '"' || c == '\\';
+        });
+        if (!needs_escaping)
+        {
+            CHECK(s_kept == "\"" + json_string + "\"");
+        }
     }
 
     // check that prefix and suffix are preserved
@@ -116,6 +138,8 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     CHECK(s_replaced2.substr(s_replaced2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(s_replaced2_ascii.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(s_kept2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
 }
 
 void check_utf8string(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2, int byte3, int byte4);
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-unicode3.cpp b/tests/src/unit-unicode3.cpp
index 12c12eea4..e4877a0ba 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-unicode3.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-unicode3.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 using nlohmann::json;
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -75,8 +76,11 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     static std::string s_replaced2;
     static std::string s_replaced_ascii;
     static std::string s_replaced2_ascii;
+    static std::string s_kept;
+    static std::string s_kept2;
+    static std::string s_kept_ascii;
 
-    // dumping with ignore/replace must not throw in any case
+    // dumping with ignore/replace/keep must not throw in any case
     s_ignored = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
@@ -85,6 +89,9 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     s_replaced2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced2_ascii = j2.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
+    s_kept = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep);
 
     if (success_expected)
     {
@@ -94,6 +101,7 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
         // all dumps should agree on the string
         CHECK(s_strict == s_ignored);
         CHECK(s_strict == s_replaced);
+        CHECK(s_strict == s_kept);
     }
     else
     {
@@ -105,6 +113,20 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
 
         // check that replace string contains a replacement character
         CHECK(s_replaced.find("\xEF\xBF\xBD") != std::string::npos);
+
+        // ignore drops the invalid bytes, keep copies them
+        CHECK(s_ignored != s_kept);
+        CHECK(s_ignored_ascii != s_kept_ascii);
+
+        // unless a byte needs escaping, keep copies the input unchanged
+        const bool needs_escaping = std::any_of(json_string.begin(), json_string.end(), [](char c)
+        {
+            return static_cast<unsigned char>(c) < 0x20 || c == '"' || c == '\\';
+        });
+        if (!needs_escaping)
+        {
+            CHECK(s_kept == "\"" + json_string + "\"");
+        }
     }
 
     // check that prefix and suffix are preserved
@@ -116,6 +138,8 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     CHECK(s_replaced2.substr(s_replaced2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(s_replaced2_ascii.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(s_kept2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
 }
 
 void check_utf8string(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2, int byte3, int byte4);
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-unicode4.cpp b/tests/src/unit-unicode4.cpp
index 43cf7095e..4265a7e84 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-unicode4.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-unicode4.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 using nlohmann::json;
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -75,8 +76,11 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     static std::string s_replaced2;
     static std::string s_replaced_ascii;
     static std::string s_replaced2_ascii;
+    static std::string s_kept;
+    static std::string s_kept2;
+    static std::string s_kept_ascii;
 
-    // dumping with ignore/replace must not throw in any case
+    // dumping with ignore/replace/keep must not throw in any case
     s_ignored = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
@@ -85,6 +89,9 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     s_replaced2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced2_ascii = j2.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
+    s_kept = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep);
 
     if (success_expected)
     {
@@ -94,6 +101,7 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
         // all dumps should agree on the string
         CHECK(s_strict == s_ignored);
         CHECK(s_strict == s_replaced);
+        CHECK(s_strict == s_kept);
     }
     else
     {
@@ -105,6 +113,20 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
 
         // check that replace string contains a replacement character
         CHECK(s_replaced.find("\xEF\xBF\xBD") != std::string::npos);
+
+        // ignore drops the invalid bytes, keep copies them
+        CHECK(s_ignored != s_kept);
+        CHECK(s_ignored_ascii != s_kept_ascii);
+
+        // unless a byte needs escaping, keep copies the input unchanged
+        const bool needs_escaping = std::any_of(json_string.begin(), json_string.end(), [](char c)
+        {
+            return static_cast<unsigned char>(c) < 0x20 || c == '"' || c == '\\';
+        });
+        if (!needs_escaping)
+        {
+            CHECK(s_kept == "\"" + json_string + "\"");
+        }
     }
 
     // check that prefix and suffix are preserved
@@ -116,6 +138,8 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     CHECK(s_replaced2.substr(s_replaced2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(s_replaced2_ascii.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(s_kept2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
 }
 
 void check_utf8string(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2, int byte3, int byte4);
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-unicode5.cpp b/tests/src/unit-unicode5.cpp
index bc0312820..8d45b7b85 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-unicode5.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-unicode5.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 using nlohmann::json;
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -75,8 +76,11 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     static std::string s_replaced2;
     static std::string s_replaced_ascii;
     static std::string s_replaced2_ascii;
+    static std::string s_kept;
+    static std::string s_kept2;
+    static std::string s_kept_ascii;
 
-    // dumping with ignore/replace must not throw in any case
+    // dumping with ignore/replace/keep must not throw in any case
     s_ignored = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
     s_ignored_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::ignore);
@@ -85,6 +89,9 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     s_replaced2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
     s_replaced2_ascii = j2.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::replace);
+    s_kept = j.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept2 = j2.dump(-1, ' ', false, json::error_handler_t::keep);
+    s_kept_ascii = j.dump(-1, ' ', true, json::error_handler_t::keep);
 
     if (success_expected)
     {
@@ -94,6 +101,7 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
         // all dumps should agree on the string
         CHECK(s_strict == s_ignored);
         CHECK(s_strict == s_replaced);
+        CHECK(s_strict == s_kept);
     }
     else
     {
@@ -105,6 +113,20 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
 
         // check that replace string contains a replacement character
         CHECK(s_replaced.find("\xEF\xBF\xBD") != std::string::npos);
+
+        // ignore drops the invalid bytes, keep copies them
+        CHECK(s_ignored != s_kept);
+        CHECK(s_ignored_ascii != s_kept_ascii);
+
+        // unless a byte needs escaping, keep copies the input unchanged
+        const bool needs_escaping = std::any_of(json_string.begin(), json_string.end(), [](char c)
+        {
+            return static_cast<unsigned char>(c) < 0x20 || c == '"' || c == '\\';
+        });
+        if (!needs_escaping)
+        {
+            CHECK(s_kept == "\"" + json_string + "\"");
+        }
     }
 
     // check that prefix and suffix are preserved
@@ -116,6 +138,8 @@ void check_utf8dump(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2 = -1, int byte3
     CHECK(s_replaced2.substr(s_replaced2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
     CHECK(s_replaced2_ascii.substr(s_replaced2_ascii.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(1, 3) == "abc");
+    CHECK(s_kept2.substr(s_kept2.size() - 4, 3) == "xyz");
 }
 
 void check_utf8string(bool success_expected, int byte1, int byte2, int byte3, int byte4);