diff --git a/helper/helper/build.gradle b/helper/helper/build.gradle
index 0602a12e9..4ae19fbaf 100644
--- a/helper/helper/build.gradle
+++ b/helper/helper/build.gradle
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ dependencies {
   implementation project(":helper:impls:helper-impl-18")
   implementation project(":helper:impls:helper-impl-19")
   implementation project(":helper:impls:helper-impl-110")
+  implementation "org.apache.commons:commons-text:1.9"
 }
 
 shadowJar {
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ shadowJar {
     //do not pack slf4j
     exclude(dependency("org.slf4j:slf4j-api:.*"))
   }
+
+  //relocate commons-text to not conflict with anything that might be on a user's classpath
+  relocate 'org.apache.commons', 'com.linkedin.avroutil1.compatibility.shaded.org.apache.commons'
 }
 
 //"fat" sources jar
diff --git a/helper/helper/src/main/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/AvroCompatibilityHelper.java b/helper/helper/src/main/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/AvroCompatibilityHelper.java
index eda0d9903..5a4003d0e 100644
--- a/helper/helper/src/main/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/AvroCompatibilityHelper.java
+++ b/helper/helper/src/main/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/AvroCompatibilityHelper.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.apache.avro.io.JsonDecoder;
 import org.apache.avro.io.JsonEncoder;
 import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificRecord;
+import org.apache.commons.text.StringEscapeUtils;
 
 
 /**
@@ -649,10 +650,73 @@ public static Schema.Field createSchemaField(String name, Schema schema, String
    * @return field property value as json literal, or null if no such property
    */
   public static String getFieldPropAsJsonString(Schema.Field field, String propName) {
-    return ADAPTER.getFieldPropAsJsonString(field, propName);
+    return getFieldPropAsJsonString(field, propName, true, false);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * returns the value of the specified field prop as a json literal.
+   * returns null if the field has no such property.
+   * optionally returns string literals as "naked" strings. also optionally unescapes any nested json
+   * inside such nested strings
+   * @param field the field who's property value we wish to get
+   * @param propName the name of the property
+   * @param quoteStringValues true to return string literals quoted. false to strip such quotes. false matches avro behaviour
+   * @param unescapeInnerJson true to unescape inner json inside string literals. true matches avro behaviour
+   * @return field property value as json literal, or null if no such property
+   */
+  public static String getFieldPropAsJsonString(Schema.Field field, String propName, boolean quoteStringValues, boolean unescapeInnerJson) {
+    String value = ADAPTER.getFieldPropAsJsonString(field, propName);
+    return unquoteAndEscapeStringProp(value, quoteStringValues, unescapeInnerJson);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * returns the value of the specified schema prop as a json literal.
+   * returns null if the schema has no such property.
+   * note that string values are returned quoted (as a proper json string literal)
+   * @param schema the schema who's property value we wish to get
+   * @param propName the name of the property
+   * @return schema property value as json literal, or null if no such property
+   */
   public static String getSchemaPropAsJsonString(Schema schema, String propName) {
-    return ADAPTER.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(schema, propName);
+    return getSchemaPropAsJsonString(schema, propName, true, false);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * returns the value of the specified schema prop as a json literal.
+   * returns null if the schema has no such property.
+   * optionally returns string literals as "naked" strings. also optionally unescapes any nested json
+   * inside such nested strings
+   * @param schema the schema who's property value we wish to get
+   * @param propName the name of the property
+   * @param quoteStringValues true to return string literals quoted. false to strip such quotes. false matches avro behaviour
+   * @param unescapeInnerJson true to unescape inner json inside string literals. true matches avro behaviour
+   * @return schema property value as json literal, or null if no such property
+   */
+  public static String getSchemaPropAsJsonString(Schema schema, String propName, boolean quoteStringValues, boolean unescapeInnerJson) {
+    String value = ADAPTER.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(schema, propName);
+    return unquoteAndEscapeStringProp(value, quoteStringValues, unescapeInnerJson);
+  }
+
+  private static String unquoteAndEscapeStringProp(String maybeAStringProp, boolean quoteStringValues, boolean unescapeInnerJson) {
+    if (maybeAStringProp == null) {
+      //no such prop
+      return null;
+    }
+    if (quoteStringValues && !unescapeInnerJson) {
+      //no changes actually required
+      return maybeAStringProp;
+    }
+    boolean isAStringValue = maybeAStringProp.startsWith("\"") && maybeAStringProp.endsWith("\"");
+    if (!isAStringValue) {
+      return maybeAStringProp;
+    }
+    String processed = maybeAStringProp;
+    if (!quoteStringValues) {
+      processed = processed.substring(1, processed.length() - 1); //remove enclosing quotes
+    }
+    if (unescapeInnerJson) {
+      processed = StringEscapeUtils.unescapeJson(processed);
+    }
+    return processed;
   }
 }
diff --git a/helper/tests/helper-tests-allavro/src/test/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/SchemaBuilderTest.java b/helper/tests/helper-tests-allavro/src/test/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/SchemaBuilderTest.java
index 0787b9d9d..46408f413 100644
--- a/helper/tests/helper-tests-allavro/src/test/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/SchemaBuilderTest.java
+++ b/helper/tests/helper-tests-allavro/src/test/java/com/linkedin/avroutil1/compatibility/SchemaBuilderTest.java
@@ -41,5 +41,9 @@ public void testSchemaPropSupportOnClone() throws Exception {
         Assert.assertEquals(AvroCompatibilityHelper.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(newSchema, "schemaNullProp"), "null");
         Assert.assertEquals(AvroCompatibilityHelper.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(newSchema, "schemaBoolProp"), "false");
         Assert.assertEquals(AvroCompatibilityHelper.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(newSchema, "schemaObjectProp"), "{\"e\":\"f\",\"g\":\"h\"}");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(AvroCompatibilityHelper.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(newSchema, "schemaNestedJsonProp"), "\"{\\\"innerKey\\\" : \\\"innerValue\\\"}\"");
+        Assert.assertEquals(AvroCompatibilityHelper.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(newSchema, "schemaNestedJsonProp", false, false), "{\\\"innerKey\\\" : \\\"innerValue\\\"}");
+        Assert.assertEquals(AvroCompatibilityHelper.getSchemaPropAsJsonString(newSchema, "schemaNestedJsonProp", false, true), "{\"innerKey\" : \"innerValue\"}");
     }
 }
diff --git a/helper/tests/helper-tests-common/src/main/resources/RecordWithFieldProps.avsc b/helper/tests/helper-tests-common/src/main/resources/RecordWithFieldProps.avsc
index 8b06010b5..000795ad7 100644
--- a/helper/tests/helper-tests-common/src/main/resources/RecordWithFieldProps.avsc
+++ b/helper/tests/helper-tests-common/src/main/resources/RecordWithFieldProps.avsc
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
       "objectProp": {
         "a": "b",
         "c": "d"
-      }
+      },
+      "nestedJsonProp": "{\"innerKey\" : \"innerValue\"}"
     },
     {
       "name": "intField",
@@ -30,5 +31,6 @@
   "schemaObjectProp": {
     "e": "f",
     "g": "h"
-  }
+  },
+  "schemaNestedJsonProp": "{\"innerKey\" : \"innerValue\"}"
 }
\ No newline at end of file