use JSON; use Data::Dumper; my $json = encode_json( {HasAttachments => \0} ); # \0 is JSON false my $decoded = decode_json( $json ); print Dumper( $decoded->{HasAttachments} ); if ( $decoded->{HasAttachments} ) { print "HasAttachments is true"; } else { print "HasAttachments is false"; } # Prints: $VAR1 = bless( do{\(my $o = 0)}, 'JSON::PP::Boolean' ); HasAttachments is false