diff --git a/Doc/library/json.rst b/Doc/library/json.rst
index 69ebc4f..6f2519a 100644
--- a/Doc/library/json.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/json.rst
@@ -127,11 +127,13 @@ Basic Usage
    :class:`float`, :class:`bool`, ``None``) will be skipped instead of raising a
    :exc:`TypeError`.
 
-   If *ensure_ascii* is ``False`` (default: ``True``), then some chunks written
-   to *fp* may be :class:`unicode` instances, subject to normal Python
-   :class:`str` to :class:`unicode` coercion rules.  Unless ``fp.write()``
-   explicitly understands :class:`unicode` (as in :func:`codecs.getwriter`) this
-   is likely to cause an error.
+   If *ensure_ascii* is ``True`` (the default), all non-ASCII characters in the
+   output are escaped with ``\uXXXX`` sequences, and the result is a
+   :class:`str` instance consisting of ASCII characters only.  If
+   *ensure_ascii* is ``False``, non-ASCII characters are not escaped, and thus
+   some chunks written to *fp* may be :class:`unicode` instances.  Unless
+   ``fp.write()`` explicitly understands :class:`unicode` (as in
+   :func:`codecs.getwriter`) this is likely to cause an error.
 
    If *check_circular* is ``False`` (default: ``True``), then the circular
    reference check for container types will be skipped and a circular reference
@@ -168,11 +170,11 @@ Basic Usage
 
 .. function:: dumps(obj[, skipkeys[, ensure_ascii[, check_circular[, allow_nan[, cls[, indent[, separators[, encoding[, default[, **kw]]]]]]]]]])
 
-   Serialize *obj* to a JSON formatted :class:`str`.
+   Serialize *obj* to a JSON formatted :class:`str`.  If *ensure_ascii* is
+   ``False``, the result may contain non-ASCII characters and the return value
+   may be a :class:`unicode` instance.
 
-   If *ensure_ascii* is ``False``, then the return value will be a
-   :class:`unicode` instance.  The other arguments have the same meaning as in
-   :func:`dump`.
+   The arguments have the same meaning as in :func:`dump`.
 
    .. note::
 
@@ -371,9 +373,12 @@ Encoders and Decoders
    attempt encoding of keys that are not str, int, long, float or None.  If
    *skipkeys* is ``True``, such items are simply skipped.
 
-   If *ensure_ascii* is ``True`` (the default), the output is guaranteed to be
-   :class:`str` objects with all incoming unicode characters escaped.  If
-   *ensure_ascii* is ``False``, the output will be a unicode object.
+   If *ensure_ascii* is ``True`` (the default), all non-ASCII characters in the
+   output are escaped with ``\uXXXX`` sequences, and the results are
+   :class:`str` instances consisting of only ASCII characters.  If
+   *ensure_ascii* is ``False``, non-ASCII characters are not escaped, and thus
+   a result may contain non-ASCII characters and may be a :class:`unicode`
+   instance.
 
    If *check_circular* is ``True`` (the default), then lists, dicts, and custom
    encoded objects will be checked for circular references during encoding to
diff --git a/Lib/json/__init__.py b/Lib/json/__init__.py
index d3b8b0b..d2cf224 100644
--- a/Lib/json/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/json/__init__.py
@@ -129,11 +129,13 @@ def dump(obj, fp, skipkeys=False, ensure_ascii=True, check_circular=True,
     (``str``, ``unicode``, ``int``, ``long``, ``float``, ``bool``, ``None``)
     will be skipped instead of raising a ``TypeError``.
 
-    If ``ensure_ascii`` is false, then the some chunks written to ``fp``
-    may be ``unicode`` instances, subject to normal Python ``str`` to
-    ``unicode`` coercion rules. Unless ``fp.write()`` explicitly
-    understands ``unicode`` (as in ``codecs.getwriter()``) this is likely
-    to cause an error.
+    If ``ensure_ascii`` is true (the default), all non-ASCII characters in the
+    output are escaped with ``\uXXXX`` sequences, and the result is a ``str``
+    instance consisting of only ASCII characters.  If *ensure_ascii* is
+    ``False``, non-ASCII characters are not escaped, and thus some chunks
+    written to ``fp`` may be ``unicode`` instances.  Unless ``fp.write()``
+    explicitly understands ``unicode`` (as in ``codecs.getwriter``) this is
+    likely to cause an error.
 
     If ``check_circular`` is false, then the circular reference check
     for container types will be skipped and a circular reference will
@@ -191,9 +193,8 @@ def dumps(obj, skipkeys=False, ensure_ascii=True, check_circular=True,
     (``str``, ``unicode``, ``int``, ``long``, ``float``, ``bool``, ``None``)
     will be skipped instead of raising a ``TypeError``.
 
-    If ``ensure_ascii`` is false, then the return value will be a
-    ``unicode`` instance subject to normal Python ``str`` to ``unicode``
-    coercion rules instead of being escaped to an ASCII ``str``.
+    If ``ensure_ascii`` is false, all non-ASCII characters are not escaped, and
+    the return value may be a ``unicode`` instance.
 
     If ``check_circular`` is false, then the circular reference check
     for container types will be skipped and a circular reference will
diff --git a/Lib/json/encoder.py b/Lib/json/encoder.py
index b0d745b..5c81756 100644
--- a/Lib/json/encoder.py
+++ b/Lib/json/encoder.py
@@ -107,9 +107,12 @@ class JSONEncoder(object):
         encoding of keys that are not str, int, long, float or None.  If
         skipkeys is True, such items are simply skipped.
 
-        If ensure_ascii is true, the output is guaranteed to be str
-        objects with all incoming unicode characters escaped.  If
-        ensure_ascii is false, the output will be unicode object.
+        If *ensure_ascii* is true (the default), all non-ASCII
+        characters in the output are escaped with \uXXXX sequences,
+        and the results are str instances consisting of ASCII
+        characters only.  If ensure_ascii is False, non-ASCII
+        characters are not escaped, and thus a result may contain
+        non-ASCII characters and may be a unicode instance.
 
         If check_circular is true, then lists, dicts, and custom encoded
         objects will be checked for circular references during encoding to