diff --git a/lib/java/src/org/apache/thrift/protocol/TJSONProtocol.java b/lib/java/src/org/apache/thrift/protocol/TJSONProtocol.java
index 02f36e3..6ce702e 100644
--- a/lib/java/src/org/apache/thrift/protocol/TJSONProtocol.java
+++ b/lib/java/src/org/apache/thrift/protocol/TJSONProtocol.java
@@ -42,9 +42,16 @@
    * Factory for JSON protocol objects
    */
   public static class Factory implements TProtocolFactory {
+    protected boolean fieldNamesAsString_ = false;
+
+    public Factory() {}
+
+    public Factory(boolean fieldNamesAsString) {
+      fieldNamesAsString_ = fieldNamesAsString;
+    }
 
     public TProtocol getProtocol(TTransport trans) {
-      return new TJSONProtocol(trans);
+      return new TJSONProtocol(trans, fieldNamesAsString_);
     }
 
   }
@@ -285,6 +292,9 @@
   // Reader that manages a 1-byte buffer
   private LookaheadReader reader_ = new LookaheadReader();
 
+  // Write out the TField names as a string instead of the default integer value
+  private boolean fieldNamesAsString_ = false;
+
   // Push a new JSON context onto the stack.
   private void pushContext(JSONBaseContext c) {
     contextStack_.push(context_);
@@ -303,6 +313,11 @@
     super(trans);
   }
 
+  public TJSONProtocol(TTransport trans, boolean fieldNamesAsString) {
+    super(trans);
+    fieldNamesAsString_ = fieldNamesAsString;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public void reset() {
     contextStack_.clear();
@@ -513,7 +528,11 @@
 
   @Override
   public void writeFieldBegin(TField field) throws TException {
-    writeJSONInteger(field.id);
+    if (fieldNamesAsString_) {
+      writeString(field.name);
+    } else {
+      writeJSONInteger(field.id);
+    }
     writeJSONObjectStart();
     writeJSONString(getTypeNameForTypeID(field.type));
   }