diff --git a/datamodel/spec_info.go b/datamodel/spec_info.go
index f5200f04..8a2e7e0b 100644
--- a/datamodel/spec_info.go
+++ b/datamodel/spec_info.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+	"unicode/utf16"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/pb33f/libopenapi/utils"
 	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v4"
@@ -97,12 +99,11 @@ func extractSpecInfoInternal(spec []byte, bypass bool, skipJSON bool) (*SpecInfo
 
 	specInfo.NumLines = bytes.Count(spec, []byte{'\n'}) + 1
 
-	// Pre-process JSON to handle \/ escape sequences that YAML parser doesn't recognize.
-	// JSON (RFC 8259) allows \/ as an optional escape for forward slash, but YAML does not.
-	// See: https://github.com/pb33f/libopenapi/issues/479
+	// Pre-process JSON escapes that YAML parsers do not accept even though
+	// they are valid JSON, while preserving the existing YAML-node parse path.
 	parseBytes := spec
 	if specInfo.SpecFileType == JSONFileType {
-		parseBytes = unescapeJSONSlashes(spec)
+		parseBytes = normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(spec)
 	}
 
 	err := yaml.Unmarshal(parseBytes, &parsedSpec)
@@ -324,39 +325,126 @@ func parseVersionTypeData(d interface{}) (string, int, error) {
 	return string(r), int(r[0]) - '0', nil
 }
 
-// unescapeJSONSlashes replaces the optional \/ escape sequence in JSON with /
-// JSON (RFC 8259) allows \/ as an optional escape for forward slash, but YAML
-// parsers (including go.yaml.in/yaml/v4) do not recognize it.
-// This handles escaped backslashes correctly: \\/ becomes \/ not //
-// Returns the original slice if no transformation is needed (zero allocation).
-func unescapeJSONSlashes(jsonBytes []byte) []byte {
-	// fast path: check if transformation is needed
-	if !bytes.Contains(jsonBytes, []byte(`\/`)) {
+// normalizeJSONForYAMLParser rewrites the small set of JSON escapes accepted by
+// RFC 8259 but rejected by go.yaml.in/yaml/v4. It returns the original slice
+// without allocation unless a rewrite is required.
+func normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(jsonBytes []byte) []byte {
+	if bytes.IndexByte(jsonBytes, '\\') < 0 {
 		return jsonBytes
 	}
 
-	result := make([]byte, 0, len(jsonBytes))
-	i := 0
-	for i < len(jsonBytes) {
-		if jsonBytes[i] == '\\' && i+1 < len(jsonBytes) {
-			switch jsonBytes[i+1] {
-			case '/':
-				// \/ -> / (json optional escape for solidus)
-				result = append(result, '/')
-				i += 2
-			case '\\':
-				// preserve escaped backslash to prevent \\/ becoming //
-				result = append(result, '\\', '\\')
-				i += 2
-			default:
-				// preserve other escape sequences (\n, \t, \", etc.)
-				result = append(result, jsonBytes[i])
-				i++
-			}
-		} else {
-			result = append(result, jsonBytes[i])
-			i++
+	var result []byte
+	var runeBytes [utf8.UTFMax]byte
+	last := 0
+	scan := 0
+
+	for scan < len(jsonBytes) {
+		rel := bytes.IndexByte(jsonBytes[scan:], '\\')
+		if rel < 0 {
+			break
+		}
+
+		escape := scan + rel
+		replacement, consumed, ok := jsonEscapeReplacement(jsonBytes, escape, &runeBytes)
+		if !ok {
+			scan = nextJSONEscapeScanOffset(jsonBytes, escape)
+			continue
 		}
+
+		if result == nil {
+			result = make([]byte, 0, len(jsonBytes))
+		}
+		result = append(result, jsonBytes[last:escape]...)
+		result = append(result, replacement...)
+		scan = escape + consumed
+		last = scan
+	}
+
+	if result == nil {
+		return jsonBytes
 	}
+
+	result = append(result, jsonBytes[last:]...)
 	return result
 }
+
+func jsonEscapeReplacement(jsonBytes []byte, escape int, runeBytes *[utf8.UTFMax]byte) ([]byte, int, bool) {
+	if escape+1 >= len(jsonBytes) {
+		return nil, 0, false
+	}
+
+	switch jsonBytes[escape+1] {
+	case '/':
+		runeBytes[0] = '/'
+		return runeBytes[:1], 2, true
+	case 'u':
+		if escape+12 > len(jsonBytes) {
+			return nil, 0, false
+		}
+
+		high, ok := decodeJSONUnicodeEscape(jsonBytes[escape+2 : escape+6])
+		if !ok || !isHighSurrogate(high) {
+			return nil, 0, false
+		}
+
+		lowEscape := escape + 6
+		if jsonBytes[lowEscape] != '\\' || jsonBytes[lowEscape+1] != 'u' {
+			return nil, 0, false
+		}
+
+		low, ok := decodeJSONUnicodeEscape(jsonBytes[lowEscape+2 : lowEscape+6])
+		if !ok || !isLowSurrogate(low) {
+			return nil, 0, false
+		}
+
+		r := utf16.DecodeRune(rune(high), rune(low))
+		n := utf8.EncodeRune(runeBytes[:], r)
+		return runeBytes[:n], 12, true
+	default:
+		return nil, 0, false
+	}
+}
+
+func nextJSONEscapeScanOffset(jsonBytes []byte, escape int) int {
+	if escape+1 >= len(jsonBytes) {
+		return escape + 1
+	}
+	return escape + 2
+}
+
+func decodeJSONUnicodeEscape(hexBytes []byte) (uint16, bool) {
+	if len(hexBytes) != 4 {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+
+	var value uint16
+	for _, b := range hexBytes {
+		hex, ok := jsonHexValue(b)
+		if !ok {
+			return 0, false
+		}
+		value = value<<4 | uint16(hex)
+	}
+	return value, true
+}
+
+func jsonHexValue(b byte) (byte, bool) {
+	switch {
+	case b >= '0' && b <= '9':
+		return b - '0', true
+	case b >= 'a' && b <= 'f':
+		return b - 'a' + 10, true
+	case b >= 'A' && b <= 'F':
+		return b - 'A' + 10, true
+	default:
+		return 0, false
+	}
+}
+
+func isHighSurrogate(value uint16) bool {
+	return value >= 0xD800 && value <= 0xDBFF
+}
+
+func isLowSurrogate(value uint16) bool {
+	return value >= 0xDC00 && value <= 0xDFFF
+}
diff --git a/datamodel/spec_info_test.go b/datamodel/spec_info_test.go
index 18816804..a2ba2d36 100644
--- a/datamodel/spec_info_test.go
+++ b/datamodel/spec_info_test.go
@@ -454,9 +454,12 @@ $self: something`
 	assert.Equal(t, "something", r.Self)
 }
 
-// TestUnescapeJSONSlashes tests the unescapeJSONSlashes helper function
-// This addresses issue #479 where JSON files with \/ escape sequences fail to parse
-func TestUnescapeJSONSlashes(t *testing.T) {
+// TestNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser tests JSON escapes that are valid JSON but
+// rejected by the YAML parser used for YAML-node construction.
+func TestNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser(t *testing.T) {
+	thumbsUp := string(rune(0x1F44D))
+	rocket := string(rune(0x1F680))
+
 	tests := []struct {
 		name     string
 		input    string
@@ -475,22 +478,61 @@ func TestUnescapeJSONSlashes(t *testing.T) {
 		{"other escapes preserved", `\n\t\/`, `\n\t/`},
 		{"multiple escaped slashes", `\/one\/two\/three`, `/one/two/three`},
 		{"mixed content", `{"path":"\/test","url":"https:\/\/example.com"}`, `{"path":"/test","url":"https://example.com"}`},
+		{"valid surrogate pair", `\ud83d\udc4d`, thumbsUp},
+		{"valid uppercase surrogate pair", `\uD83D\uDC4D`, thumbsUp},
+		{"multiple surrogate pairs", `\ud83d\udc4d \ud83d\ude80`, thumbsUp + " " + rocket},
+		{"surrogate pair with escaped slash", `https:\/\/example.com\/\ud83d\udc4d`, `https://example.com/` + thumbsUp},
+		{"double escaped surrogate pair", `\\ud83d\\udc4d`, `\\ud83d\\udc4d`},
+		{"trailing backslash", `\`, `\`},
+		{"lone high surrogate", `\ud83d`, `\ud83d`},
+		{"high surrogate without low escape", `\ud83dxxxxxx`, `\ud83dxxxxxx`},
+		{"high surrogate followed by non-low surrogate", `\ud83d\u0041`, `\ud83d\u0041`},
+		{"lone low surrogate", `\udc4d`, `\udc4d`},
+		{"invalid high surrogate hex", `\ud83x\udc4d`, `\ud83x\udc4d`},
+		{"invalid low surrogate hex", `\ud83d\udc4x`, `\ud83d\udc4x`},
+		{"truncated unicode escape", `\u12`, `\u12`},
+		{"non surrogate unicode escape", `\u003c`, `\u003c`},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			result := unescapeJSONSlashes([]byte(tt.input))
+			result := normalizeJSONForYAMLParser([]byte(tt.input))
 			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, string(result))
 		})
 	}
 }
 
-// TestUnescapeJSONSlashes_NoAllocation tests that the fast path returns original slice
-func TestUnescapeJSONSlashes_NoAllocation(t *testing.T) {
-	input := []byte(`{"path":"/test"}`)
-	result := unescapeJSONSlashes(input)
-	// Should return same slice when no \/ present
-	assert.Equal(t, &input[0], &result[0], "Should return original slice when no \\/ present")
+func TestDecodeJSONUnicodeEscape(t *testing.T) {
+	value, ok := decodeJSONUnicodeEscape([]byte("D83D"))
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, uint16(0xD83D), value)
+
+	_, ok = decodeJSONUnicodeEscape([]byte("123"))
+	assert.False(t, ok)
+
+	_, ok = decodeJSONUnicodeEscape([]byte("12xz"))
+	assert.False(t, ok)
+}
+
+// TestNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser_NoAllocation tests that unchanged inputs
+// return the original slice.
+func TestNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser_NoAllocation(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []string{
+		`{"path":"/test"}`,
+		`{"text":"line\nquoted\"tab\tunicode\u003c"}`,
+		`{"text":"\\ud83d\\udc4d"}`,
+		`{"text":"\ud83d"}`,
+		`{"text":"\udc4d"}`,
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt, func(t *testing.T) {
+			input := []byte(tt)
+			result := normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(input)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt, string(result))
+			assert.Equal(t, &input[0], &result[0], "Should return original slice when no rewrite is needed")
+		})
+	}
 }
 
 // TestExtractSpecInfo_JSON_EscapedSlashes tests issue #479
@@ -506,6 +548,49 @@ func TestExtractSpecInfo_JSON_EscapedSlashes(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, utils.OpenApi3, r.SpecType)
 }
 
+func TestExtractSpecInfo_JSON_SurrogatePairInExample(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonWithSurrogatePair := `{
+  "openapi": "3.0.1",
+  "info": {"title": "r", "version": "1"},
+  "paths": {
+    "/t": {
+      "post": {
+        "operationId": "t",
+        "responses": {
+          "201": {
+            "description": "ok",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {"type": "object", "properties": {"x": {"type": "string"}}},
+                "examples": {
+                  "e": {"value": {"x": "Hello \ud83d\udc4d"}}
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}`
+
+	r, e := ExtractSpecInfo([]byte(jsonWithSurrogatePair))
+	assert.NoError(t, e)
+	assert.Equal(t, "3.0.1", r.Version)
+	assert.Equal(t, JSONFileType, r.SpecFileType)
+	assert.Equal(t, utils.OpenApi3, r.SpecType)
+}
+
+func TestExtractSpecInfo_JSON_SurrogatePairInDescription(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonWithSurrogatePair := `{"openapi":"3.0.1","info":{"title":"r","version":"1","description":"Hello \ud83d\udc4d"},"paths":{}}`
+
+	r, e := ExtractSpecInfo([]byte(jsonWithSurrogatePair))
+	assert.NoError(t, e)
+	assert.Equal(t, "3.0.1", r.Version)
+	assert.Equal(t, JSONFileType, r.SpecFileType)
+	assert.Equal(t, utils.OpenApi3, r.SpecType)
+}
+
 // TestExtractSpecInfo_JSON_EscapedSlashes_URL tests URL paths with escaped slashes
 func TestExtractSpecInfo_JSON_EscapedSlashes_URL(t *testing.T) {
 	jsonWithURL := `{"openapi":"3.0.0","info":{"title":"Test","version":"1.0.0"},"servers":[{"url":"https:\/\/api.example.com\/v1"}],"paths":{}}`
@@ -619,6 +704,48 @@ func TestSpecInfo_Release(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "3.1.0", s.Version)
 }
 
+var normalizeJSONForYAMLParserSink []byte
+
+func BenchmarkNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser_NoEscapes(b *testing.B) {
+	input := []byte(`{"openapi":"3.0.1","info":{"title":"r","version":"1"},"paths":{}}`)
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.SetBytes(int64(len(input)))
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		normalizeJSONForYAMLParserSink = normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(input)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser_CommonEscapesNoRewrite(b *testing.B) {
+	input := []byte(`{"openapi":"3.0.1","info":{"title":"line\nquoted\"tab\tunicode\u003c","version":"1"},"paths":{}}`)
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.SetBytes(int64(len(input)))
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		normalizeJSONForYAMLParserSink = normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(input)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser_EscapedSlashes(b *testing.B) {
+	input := []byte(`{"openapi":"3.0.1","info":{"title":"r","version":"1"},"servers":[{"url":"https:\/\/api.example.com\/v1"}],"paths":{"\/test":{}}}`)
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.SetBytes(int64(len(input)))
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		normalizeJSONForYAMLParserSink = normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(input)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkNormalizeJSONForYAMLParser_SurrogatePair(b *testing.B) {
+	input := []byte(`{"openapi":"3.0.1","info":{"title":"r","version":"1","description":"Hello \ud83d\udc4d"},"paths":{}}`)
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	b.SetBytes(int64(len(input)))
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		normalizeJSONForYAMLParserSink = normalizeJSONForYAMLParser(input)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSpecInfo_Release_Nil(t *testing.T) {
 	var s *SpecInfo
 	s.Release() // must not panic
diff --git a/document_test.go b/document_test.go
index 7a2cc751..933cfbad 100644
--- a/document_test.go
+++ b/document_test.go
@@ -643,6 +643,40 @@ func TestDocument_Serialize_JSON_Modified(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, jsonModified, string(serial))
 }
 
+func TestNewDocument_JSONSurrogatePairExample(t *testing.T) {
+	spec := []byte(`{
+  "openapi": "3.0.1",
+  "info": {"title": "r", "version": "1"},
+  "paths": {
+    "/t": {
+      "post": {
+        "operationId": "t",
+        "responses": {
+          "201": {
+            "description": "ok",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {"type": "object", "properties": {"x": {"type": "string"}}},
+                "examples": {
+                  "e": {"value": {"x": "Hello \ud83d\udc4d"}}
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}`)
+
+	doc, err := NewDocument(spec)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	model, buildErr := doc.BuildV3Model()
+	require.NoError(t, buildErr)
+	require.NotNil(t, model)
+}
+
 func TestExtractReference(t *testing.T) {
 	data := `
 openapi: "3.1"