diff --git a/.changeset/unlucky-worms-complain.md b/.changeset/unlucky-worms-complain.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69c3bc1fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/unlucky-worms-complain.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@linaria/babel-preset': patch
+---
+
+Avoid parsing json as js
diff --git a/packages/babel/src/transform-stages/1-prepare-for-eval.ts b/packages/babel/src/transform-stages/1-prepare-for-eval.ts
index 2434fae2d..0e993789a 100644
--- a/packages/babel/src/transform-stages/1-prepare-for-eval.ts
+++ b/packages/babel/src/transform-stages/1-prepare-for-eval.ts
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ function prepareCode(
     originalCode
   );
 
-  if (action === 'ignore') {
+  if (action === 'ignore' || filename.endsWith('.json')) {
     log('stage-1:ignore', '');
 
     return [originalCode, null];