diff -r a9680746ae4a -r f3c7f4243a04 Lib/json/tests/test_unicode.py
--- a/Lib/json/tests/test_unicode.py	Fri Jan 13 22:53:25 2012 +0100
+++ b/Lib/json/tests/test_unicode.py	Fri Jan 13 17:37:18 2012 -0500
@@ -80,10 +80,6 @@
         # Issue 10038.
         self.assertEqual(type(self.loads('"foo"')), unicode)
 
-    def test_bad_encoding(self):
-        self.assertRaises(UnicodeEncodeError, self.loads, '"a"', u"rat\xe9")
-        self.assertRaises(TypeError, self.loads, '"a"', 1)
-
 
 class TestPyUnicode(TestUnicode, PyTest): pass
 class TestCUnicode(TestUnicode, CTest): pass
diff -r a9680746ae4a -r f3c7f4243a04 Misc/NEWS
--- a/Misc/NEWS	Fri Jan 13 22:53:25 2012 +0100
+++ b/Misc/NEWS	Fri Jan 13 17:37:18 2012 -0500
@@ -374,9 +374,6 @@
 Extension Modules
 -----------------
 
-- Issue #13774: json: Fix a SystemError when a bogus encoding is passed to
-  json.loads().
-
 - Issue #9975: socket: Fix incorrect use of flowinfo and scope_id. Patch by
   Vilmos Nebehaj.
 
diff -r a9680746ae4a -r f3c7f4243a04 Modules/_json.c
--- a/Modules/_json.c	Fri Jan 13 22:53:25 2012 +0100
+++ b/Modules/_json.c	Fri Jan 13 17:37:18 2012 -0500
@@ -1725,15 +1725,8 @@
         Py_DECREF(s->encoding);
         s->encoding = tmp;
     }
-    if (s->encoding == NULL)
+    if (s->encoding == NULL || !PyString_Check(s->encoding))
         goto bail;
-    if (!PyString_Check(s->encoding)) {
-	PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
-		     "encoding must be a string, not %.80s",
-		     Py_TYPE(s->encoding)->tp_name);
-	goto bail;
-    }
-       
 
     /* All of these will fail "gracefully" so we don't need to verify them */
     s->strict = PyObject_GetAttrString(ctx, "strict");
diff -r a9680746ae4a -r f3c7f4243a04 Python/import.c
--- a/Python/import.c	Fri Jan 13 22:53:25 2012 +0100
+++ b/Python/import.c	Fri Jan 13 17:37:18 2012 -0500
@@ -114,6 +114,34 @@
 };
 #endif
 
+#ifdef MS_WINDOWS
+int isdir(char *path) {
+	DWORD rv;
+	/* see issue1293 and issue3677:
+	 * stat() on Windows doesn't recognise paths like
+	 * "e:\\shared\\" and "\\\\whiterab-c2znlh\\shared" as dirs.
+	 * Also reference issue6727:
+	 * stat() on Windows is broken and doesn't resolve symlinks properly.
+	 */
+	rv = GetFileAttributesA(path);
+	return rv != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES && rv & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY;
+}
+#else
+#if HAVE_STAT
+int isdir(char *path) {
+    struct stat statbuf;
+	return stat(path, &statbuf) == 0 && S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode);
+}
+#else
+#ifdef RISCOS
+/* with RISCOS, isdir is in unixstuff */
+#else
+int isdir(char *path) {
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif /* RISCOS */
+#endif /* HAVE_STAT */
+#endif /* MS_WINDOWS */
 
 /* Initialize things */
 
@@ -1207,9 +1235,6 @@
     char *filemode;
     FILE *fp = NULL;
     PyObject *path_hooks, *path_importer_cache;
-#ifndef RISCOS
-    struct stat statbuf;
-#endif
     static struct filedescr fd_frozen = {"", "", PY_FROZEN};
     static struct filedescr fd_builtin = {"", "", C_BUILTIN};
     static struct filedescr fd_package = {"", "", PKG_DIRECTORY};
@@ -1395,9 +1420,7 @@
 
         /* Check for package import (buf holds a directory name,
            and there's an __init__ module in that directory */
-#ifdef HAVE_STAT
-        if (stat(buf, &statbuf) == 0 &&         /* it exists */
-            S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode) &&         /* it's a directory */
+        if (isdir(buf) &&         /* it's an existing directory */
             case_ok(buf, len, namelen, name)) { /* case matches */
             if (find_init_module(buf)) { /* and has __init__.py */
                 Py_XDECREF(copy);
@@ -1415,28 +1438,6 @@
                 }
             }
         }
-#else
-        /* XXX How are you going to test for directories? */
-#ifdef RISCOS
-        if (isdir(buf) &&
-            case_ok(buf, len, namelen, name)) {
-            if (find_init_module(buf)) {
-                Py_XDECREF(copy);
-                return &fd_package;
-            }
-            else {
-                char warnstr[MAXPATHLEN+80];
-                sprintf(warnstr, "Not importing directory "
-                    "'%.*s': missing __init__.py",
-                    MAXPATHLEN, buf);
-                if (PyErr_Warn(PyExc_ImportWarning,
-                               warnstr)) {
-                    Py_XDECREF(copy);
-                    return NULL;
-                }
-        }
-#endif
-#endif
 #if defined(PYOS_OS2)
         /* take a snapshot of the module spec for restoration
          * after the 8 character DLL hackery
@@ -3202,49 +3203,11 @@
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "empty pathname");
         return -1;
     } else {
-#ifndef RISCOS
-#ifndef MS_WINDOWS
-        struct stat statbuf;
-        int rv;
-
-        rv = stat(path, &statbuf);
-        if (rv == 0) {
-            /* it exists */
-            if (S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode)) {
-                /* it's a directory */
-                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
-                                "existing directory");
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-#else /* MS_WINDOWS */
-        DWORD rv;
-        /* see issue1293 and issue3677:
-         * stat() on Windows doesn't recognise paths like
-         * "e:\\shared\\" and "\\\\whiterab-c2znlh\\shared" as dirs.
-         */
-        rv = GetFileAttributesA(path);
-        if (rv != INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES) {
-            /* it exists */
-            if (rv & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY) {
-                /* it's a directory */
-                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
-                                "existing directory");
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-#endif
-#else /* RISCOS */
-        if (object_exists(path)) {
-            /* it exists */
-            if (isdir(path)) {
-                /* it's a directory */
-                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
-                                "existing directory");
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-#endif
+		if(isdir(path)) {
+			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
+							"existing directory");
+			return -1;
+		}
     }
     return 0;
 }