diff --git a/cli.js b/cli.js
index c028be3d..bec33e04 100644
--- a/cli.js
+++ b/cli.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-/* global java */
 /* eslint no-process-exit:0, strict: [2, "function"] */
 /**
  * Helper methods for running JSDoc on the command line.
@@ -16,6 +15,7 @@ module.exports = (function() {
 var app = require('jsdoc/app');
 var env = require('jsdoc/env');
 var logger = require('jsdoc/util/logger');
+var stripBom = require('jsdoc/util/stripbom');
 var stripJsonComments = require('strip-json-comments');
 var Promise = require('bluebird');
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ cli.setVersionInfo = function() {
     var path = require('path');
 
     // allow this to throw--something is really wrong if we can't read our own package file
-    var info = JSON.parse( fs.readFileSync(path.join(env.dirname, 'package.json'), 'utf8') );
+    var info = JSON.parse( stripBom.strip(fs.readFileSync(path.join(env.dirname, 'package.json'), 'utf8')) );
 
     env.version = {
         number: info.version,
diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/config.js b/lib/jsdoc/config.js
index 9ec5b9d2..5a7350ff 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/config.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/config.js
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
  */
 'use strict';
 
+var stripBom = require('jsdoc/util/stripbom');
+
 function mergeRecurse(target, source) {
     Object.keys(source).forEach(function(p) {
         if ( source[p].constructor === Object ) {
@@ -48,7 +50,7 @@ var defaults = {
     @param {string} [json] - The contents of config.json.
  */
 function Config(json) {
-    json = JSON.parse( (json || '{}') );
+    json = JSON.parse( (stripBom.strip(json) || '{}') );
     this._config = mergeRecurse(defaults, json);
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/package.js b/lib/jsdoc/package.js
index dea3a5b3..f7882786 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/package.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/package.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var logger = require('jsdoc/util/logger');
+var stripBom = require('jsdoc/util/stripbom');
 
 /**
  * Provides access to information about a JavaScript package.
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ exports.Package = function(json) {
     this.kind = 'package';
 
     try {
-        packageInfo = JSON.parse(json || '{}');
+        packageInfo = JSON.parse(stripBom.strip(json) || '{}');
     }
     catch (e) {
         logger.error('Unable to parse the package file: %s', e.message);
diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js b/lib/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js
index cffa44e6..e7f3d142 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ var env = require('jsdoc/env');
 var fs = require('jsdoc/fs');
 var logger = require('jsdoc/util/logger');
 var path = require('path');
+var stripBom = require('jsdoc/util/stripbom');
 var tutorial = require('jsdoc/tutorial');
 
 var hasOwnProp = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;
@@ -138,7 +139,7 @@ exports.load = function(filepath) {
 
                 // configuration file
                 case 'json':
-                    var meta = JSON.parse(content);
+                    var meta = JSON.parse(stripBom.strip(content));
                     addTutorialConf(name, meta);
                     // don't add this as a tutorial
                     return;
diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/util/stripbom.js b/lib/jsdoc/util/stripbom.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ca1c3a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/util/stripbom.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+'use strict';
+
+/**
+ * Module to strip the leading BOM, if present, from UTF-8 files.
+ * @module
+ * @private
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Strip the leading BOM, if present, from a string.
+ *
+ * @private
+ * @param {string} text - The string to strip.
+ * @return {string} The stripped string.
+ */
+exports.strip = function(text) {
+    text = text || '';
+    return text.replace(/^\uFEFF/, '');
+};
diff --git a/test/specs/jsdoc/config.js b/test/specs/jsdoc/config.js
index 12ebde20..0753e9cf 100644
--- a/test/specs/jsdoc/config.js
+++ b/test/specs/jsdoc/config.js
@@ -36,6 +36,16 @@ describe('jsdoc/config', function() {
         });
     });
 
+    describe('constructor with leading BOM', function() {
+        it('should be possible to construct a Config with JSON that has a leading BOM', function() {
+            function getConfig() {
+                return new Config('\uFEFF{}').get();
+            }
+
+            expect(getConfig).not.toThrow();
+        });
+    });
+
     describe('constructor with plugins value', function() {
         it('should be possible to construct a Config with JSON of an object literal that has a plugin value', function() {
             var config = new Config('{"plugins":[42]}').get();
diff --git a/test/specs/jsdoc/package.js b/test/specs/jsdoc/package.js
index bd71b0db..47474d92 100644
--- a/test/specs/jsdoc/package.js
+++ b/test/specs/jsdoc/package.js
@@ -45,6 +45,14 @@ describe('jsdoc/package', function() {
             expect(newPackage).not.toThrow();
         });
 
+        it('should accept a JSON-format string with a leading BOM', function() {
+            function newPackage() {
+                return new Package('\uFEFF{}');
+            }
+
+            expect(newPackage).not.toThrow();
+        });
+
         it('should work when called with no arguments', function() {
             function newPackage() {
                 return new Package();
diff --git a/test/specs/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js b/test/specs/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js
index 4da23287..cf03422c 100644
--- a/test/specs/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js
+++ b/test/specs/jsdoc/tutorial/resolver.js
@@ -142,6 +142,16 @@ describe('jsdoc/tutorial/resolver', function() {
             expect(test6.type).toBe(tutorial.TYPES.HTML);
             expect(constr.type).toBe(tutorial.TYPES.MARKDOWN);
         });
+
+        it('JSON files with a leading BOM are handled correctly', function() {
+            resetRootTutorial();
+
+            function loadBomTutorials() {
+                resolver.load(env.dirname + '/test/tutorials/bom');
+            }
+
+            expect(loadBomTutorials).not.toThrow();
+        });
     });
 
     // resolve
diff --git a/test/specs/jsdoc/util/stripbom.js b/test/specs/jsdoc/util/stripbom.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..55783cf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/specs/jsdoc/util/stripbom.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+'use strict';
+
+describe('jsdoc/util/stripbom', function() {
+    var stripBom = require('jsdoc/util/stripbom');
+
+    it('should exist', function() {
+        expect(typeof stripBom).toBe('object');
+    });
+
+    it('should export a "strip" method', function() {
+        expect(typeof stripBom.strip).toBe('function');
+    });
+
+    describe('strip', function() {
+        it('should strip the leading BOM when present', function() {
+            var result = stripBom.strip('\uFEFFHello there!');
+
+            expect(result).toBe('Hello there!');
+        });
+
+        it('should not change the text when no leading BOM is present', function() {
+            var result = stripBom.strip('Hello there!');
+
+            expect(result).toBe('Hello there!');
+        });
+
+        it('should return an empty string when the text is null or undefined', function() {
+            expect(stripBom.strip()).toBe('');
+        });
+    });
+});
diff --git a/test/tutorials/bom/bom.json b/test/tutorials/bom/bom.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f1177889
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tutorials/bom/bom.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}