diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 09ad5718..4da77c24 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Fixed
 
 - Job args: preserve large numeric JSON values exactly when displaying and copying args, while keeping object keys sorted. [Fixes #593](https://github.com/riverqueue/riverui/issues/593). [PR #594](https://github.com/riverqueue/riverui/pull/594).
+- JSON viewer: render empty and escaped object property keys as valid JSON strings. [PR #632](https://github.com/riverqueue/riverui/pull/632).
 
 ## [v0.17.0] - 2026-07-31
 
diff --git a/src/components/JSONView.test.tsx b/src/components/JSONView.test.tsx
index eedf24de..58c16928 100644
--- a/src/components/JSONView.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/JSONView.test.tsx
@@ -97,6 +97,19 @@ describe("JSONView Component", () => {
     expect(bravoBeforeZulu).toBeTruthy();
   });
 
+  it("renders empty and escaped object keys as valid JSON strings", () => {
+    const data = JSON.parse(
+      String.raw`{"":"empty key","quote\"key":"quoted key"}`,
+    ) as Record<string, unknown>;
+
+    render(<JSONView data={data} />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByText('""')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText(String.raw`"quote\"key"`)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('"empty key"')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('"quoted key"')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
   it("renders nested JSON data with collapsed nodes but visible keys by default", () => {
     render(<JSONView data={nestedData} defaultExpandDepth={1} />);
 
diff --git a/src/components/JSONView.tsx b/src/components/JSONView.tsx
index dff10ec0..512a4ea3 100644
--- a/src/components/JSONView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/JSONView.tsx
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ function JSONNodeRenderer({
   const color = styleConfig.json.key;
 
   // For primitive values, render key and value inline
-  if (propKey && isPrimitiveValue(data)) {
+  if (propKey !== null && isPrimitiveValue(data)) {
     return (
       <span
         style={{
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ function JSONNodeRenderer({
           whiteSpace: "nowrap",
         }}
       >
-        <span className={styleConfig.json.key}>&quot;{propKey}&quot;</span>
+        <span className={styleConfig.json.key}>{JSON.stringify(propKey)}</span>
         <span className={styleConfig.json.key}>:&nbsp;</span>
         {typeof data === "string" ? (
           <span className={valueColor("string")} style={{ whiteSpace: "pre" }}>
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ function JSONNodeRenderer({
   }
 
   // For non-primitive values (objects/arrays) or non-property values, use the normal rendering
-  if (!propKey) {
+  if (propKey === null) {
     return renderValue(
       data,
       valueColor,
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ function JSONNodeRenderer({
   if (count === 0) {
     return (
       <span>
-        <span style={{ color }}>&quot;{propKey}&quot;</span>
+        <span style={{ color }}>{JSON.stringify(propKey)}</span>
         <span style={{ color }}>:&nbsp;</span>
         <span>
           {isArray ? "[]" : "{}"}
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ function JSONNodeRenderer({
                 />
               )}
             </span>
-            <span style={{ color }}>&quot;{propKey}&quot;</span>
+            <span style={{ color }}>{JSON.stringify(propKey)}</span>
             <span style={{ color }}>:&nbsp;</span>
             <span>{isArray ? "[" : "{"}</span>
             {!open && (