diff --git a/cmd/config/internal/commands/source.go b/cmd/config/internal/commands/source.go
index 27382bb2f..555e2d660 100644
--- a/cmd/config/internal/commands/source.go
+++ b/cmd/config/internal/commands/source.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (r *SourceRunner) runE(c *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 	var inputs []kio.Reader
 	for _, a := range args {
-		inputs = append(inputs, kio.LocalPackageReader{PackagePath: a})
+		inputs = append(inputs, kio.LocalPackageReader{PackagePath: a, IncludeJSON: true})
 	}
 	if len(inputs) == 0 {
 		inputs = []kio.Reader{&kio.ByteReader{Reader: c.InOrStdin()}}
diff --git a/cmd/config/internal/commands/source_test.go b/cmd/config/internal/commands/source_test.go
index 141541143..b7f77d2ca 100644
--- a/cmd/config/internal/commands/source_test.go
+++ b/cmd/config/internal/commands/source_test.go
@@ -21,25 +21,37 @@ func TestSourceCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(d)
 
-	err = ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(d, "f1.yaml"), []byte(`
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    app: nginx2
-  name: foo
-  annotations:
-    app: nginx2
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
+	err = ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(d, "f1.json"), []byte(`
+{
+  "kind": "Deployment",
+  "metadata": {
+    "labels": {
+      "app": "nginx2"
+    },
+    "name": "foo",
+    "annotations": {
+      "app": "nginx2"
+    }
+  },
+  "spec": {
+    "replicas": 1
+  }
+}
 ---
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  name: foo
-  annotations:
-    app: nginx
-spec:
-  selector:
-    app: nginx
+{
+  "kind": "Service",
+  "metadata": {
+    "name": "foo",
+    "annotations": {
+      "app": "nginx"
+    }
+  },
+  "spec": {
+    "selector": {
+      "app": "nginx"
+    }
+  }
+}
 `), 0600)
 	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
 		return
@@ -86,22 +98,22 @@ kind: ResourceList
 items:
 - kind: Deployment
   metadata:
-    labels:
-      app: nginx2
-    name: foo
     annotations:
       app: nginx2
       config.kubernetes.io/index: '0'
-      config.kubernetes.io/path: 'f1.yaml'
+      config.kubernetes.io/path: 'f1.json'
+    labels:
+      app: nginx2
+    name: foo
   spec:
     replicas: 1
 - kind: Service
   metadata:
-    name: foo
     annotations:
       app: nginx
       config.kubernetes.io/index: '1'
-      config.kubernetes.io/path: 'f1.yaml'
+      config.kubernetes.io/path: 'f1.json'
+    name: foo
   spec:
     selector:
       app: nginx
diff --git a/kyaml/kio/byteio_reader.go b/kyaml/kio/byteio_reader.go
index 670fb96f5..662f04437 100644
--- a/kyaml/kio/byteio_reader.go
+++ b/kyaml/kio/byteio_reader.go
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@ type ByteReader struct {
 	// WrappingKind is set by Read(), and is the kind of the object that
 	// the read objects were originally wrapped in.
 	WrappingKind string
+
+	// JSON indicates if the input file source is json
+	JSON bool
 }
 
 var _ Reader = &ByteReader{}
@@ -119,7 +122,14 @@ func (r *ByteReader) Read() ([]*yaml.RNode, error) {
 
 	index := 0
 	for i := range values {
-		decoder := yaml.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBufferString(values[i]))
+		value := values[i]
+		if r.JSON {
+			value, err = yaml.ConvertJSONToYamlString(value)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+		decoder := yaml.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBufferString(value))
 		node, err := r.decode(index, decoder)
 		if err == io.EOF {
 			continue
diff --git a/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader.go b/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader.go
index 854c8d392..0392949d6 100644
--- a/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader.go
+++ b/kyaml/kio/pkgio_reader.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/errors"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/kio/kioutil"
@@ -162,10 +163,18 @@ type LocalPackageReader struct {
 
 	// SetAnnotations are annotations to set on the Resources as they are read.
 	SetAnnotations map[string]string `yaml:"setAnnotations,omitempty"`
+
+	// IncludeJSON indicates if the json resources files must be included during read
+	IncludeJSON bool
 }
 
 var _ Reader = LocalPackageReader{}
 
+const (
+	JSONFilePattern = "*.json"
+	JSONSuffix      = ".json"
+)
+
 var DefaultMatch = []string{"*.yaml", "*.yml"}
 
 // Read reads the Resources.
@@ -178,6 +187,9 @@ func (r LocalPackageReader) Read() ([]*yaml.RNode, error) {
 	r.PackagePath = filepath.ToSlash(r.PackagePath)
 	if len(r.MatchFilesGlob) == 0 {
 		r.MatchFilesGlob = DefaultMatch
+		if r.IncludeJSON {
+			r.MatchFilesGlob = append(r.MatchFilesGlob, JSONFilePattern)
+		}
 	}
 
 	var operand ResourceNodeSlice
@@ -243,6 +255,7 @@ func (r *LocalPackageReader) readFile(path string, _ os.FileInfo) ([]*yaml.RNode
 		Reader:                f,
 		OmitReaderAnnotations: r.OmitReaderAnnotations,
 		SetAnnotations:        r.SetAnnotations,
+		JSON:                  strings.HasSuffix(path, JSONSuffix),
 	}
 	return rr.Read()
 }
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/types.go b/kyaml/yaml/types.go
index d74cb8471..bf2e9cacc 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/types.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/types.go
@@ -724,22 +724,31 @@ func (rn *RNode) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 
 // ConvertJSONToYamlNode parses input json string and returns equivalent yaml node
 func ConvertJSONToYamlNode(jsonStr string) (*RNode, error) {
-	var body map[string]interface{}
-	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonStr), &body)
+	yml, err := ConvertJSONToYamlString(jsonStr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	yml, err := yaml.Marshal(body)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	node, err := Parse(string(yml))
+	node, err := Parse(yml)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return node, nil
 }
 
+// ConvertJSONToYamlNode parses input json string and returns equivalent yaml string
+func ConvertJSONToYamlString(jsonStr string) (string, error) {
+	var body map[string]interface{}
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonStr), &body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	yml, err := yaml.Marshal(body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return string(yml), nil
+}
+
 // checkKey returns true if all elems have the key
 func checkKey(key string, elems []*Node) bool {
 	count := 0
diff --git a/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go b/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go
index b963d5b28..52c1eb5ea 100644
--- a/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/yaml/types_test.go
@@ -166,3 +166,19 @@ type: string
 	}
 	assert.Equal(t, expected, actual)
 }
+
+func TestConvertJSONToYamlString(t *testing.T) {
+	inputJSON := `{"type": "string", "maxLength": 15, "enum": ["allowedValue1", "allowedValue2"]}`
+	expected := `enum:
+  - allowedValue1
+  - allowedValue2
+maxLength: 15
+type: string
+`
+
+	actual, err := ConvertJSONToYamlString(inputJSON)
+	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
+		t.FailNow()
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, expected, actual)
+}