diff --git a/fsl/data/image.py b/fsl/data/image.py
index e21ad87c2cf34cfe629ecba94e7cf2890cfb0472..80cffb6a97efb7964c32d846af9715c19d3f5d0a 100644
--- a/fsl/data/image.py
+++ b/fsl/data/image.py
@@ -1569,7 +1569,7 @@ def loadMetadata(image):
     jsonfile = op.join(dirname, '{}.json'.format(basename))
     if op.exists(jsonfile):
         with open(jsonfile, 'rt') as f:
-            return json.load(f)
+            return json.load(f, strict=False)
 
     return {}
 
diff --git a/fsl/utils/bids.py b/fsl/utils/bids.py
index 671fb4c28650d912ff1579ab350cf5e99ae0c116..61fc12830aa324848d0a3b32c7d350a800fc2b4b 100644
--- a/fsl/utils/bids.py
+++ b/fsl/utils/bids.py
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ def isBIDSFile(filename, strict=True):
 def loadMetadataFile(filename):
     """Load ``filename`` (assumed to be JSON), returning its contents. """
     with open(filename, 'rt') as f:
-        return json.load(f)
+        return json.load(f, strict=False)
 
 
 def loadMetadata(filename):