diff --git a/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h b/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h
index c97e25371..de849b0c4 100644
--- a/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h
+++ b/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static inline int spa_json_parse_stringn(const char *val, int len, char *result,
 		return -1;
 	if (!spa_json_is_string(val, len)) {
 		if (result != val)
-			strncpy(result, val, len);
+			memmove(result, val, len);
 		result += len;
 	} else {
 		for (p = val+1; p < val + len; p++) {