diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONArray.java b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONArray.java
index 342b91e99..d8ecfd3b9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONArray.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONArray.java
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ public <E extends Enum<E>> E getEnum(Class<E> clazz, int index) throws JSONExcep
 
     /**
      * Get the BigDecimal value associated with an index. If the value is float
-     * or double, the the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(double)} constructor
+     * or double, the the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(String)} constructor
      * will be used. See notes on the constructor for conversion issues that
      * may arise.
      *
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ public BigInteger optBigInteger(int index, BigInteger defaultValue) {
      * Get the optional BigDecimal value associated with an index. The 
      * defaultValue is returned if there is no value for the index, or if the 
      * value is not a number and cannot be converted to a number. If the value
-     * is float or double, the the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(double)}
+     * is float or double, the the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(String)}
      * constructor will be used. See notes on the constructor for conversion
      * issues that may arise.
      *
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java
index a8cfbb7ce..69efdf5bd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ public BigInteger getBigInteger(String key) throws JSONException {
 
     /**
      * Get the BigDecimal value associated with a key. If the value is float or
-     * double, the the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(double)} constructor will
+     * double, the the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(String)} constructor will
      * be used. See notes on the constructor for conversion issues that may
      * arise.
      *
@@ -1137,7 +1137,7 @@ public boolean optBoolean(String key, boolean defaultValue) {
      * Get an optional BigDecimal associated with a key, or the defaultValue if
      * there is no such key or if its value is not a number. If the value is a
      * string, an attempt will be made to evaluate it as a number. If the value
-     * is float or double, then the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(double)}
+     * is float or double, then the {@link BigDecimal#BigDecimal(String)}
      * constructor will be used. See notes on the constructor for conversion
      * issues that may arise.
      *
@@ -1172,7 +1172,10 @@ static BigDecimal objectToBigDecimal(Object val, BigDecimal defaultValue) {
             if (!numberIsFinite((Number)val)) {
                 return defaultValue;
             }
-            return new BigDecimal(((Number) val).doubleValue());
+            // use the string constructor so that we maintain "nice" values for doubles and floats
+            // the double constructor will translate doubles to "exact" values instead of the likely
+            // intended representation
+            return new BigDecimal(val.toString());
         }
         if (val instanceof Long || val instanceof Integer
                 || val instanceof Short || val instanceof Byte){
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONObjectTest.java b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONObjectTest.java
index cec27a9e5..eb0678de9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONObjectTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONObjectTest.java
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ public void verifySimilar() {
         
         assertTrue("Should eval to true", obj1.similar(obj4));
         
+        // verify that a double and big decimal are "similar"
         assertTrue("should eval to true",new JSONObject().put("a",1.1d).similar(new JSONObject("{\"a\":1.1}")));
         
     }
@@ -942,7 +943,7 @@ public void stringToValueNumbersTest() {
         assertTrue("-0 Should be a Double!",JSONObject.stringToValue("-0")  instanceof Double);
         assertTrue("-0.0 Should be a Double!",JSONObject.stringToValue("-0.0") instanceof Double);
         assertTrue("'-' Should be a String!",JSONObject.stringToValue("-") instanceof String);
-        assertTrue( "0.2 should be a Double!",
+        assertTrue( "0.2 should be a BigDecimal!",
                 JSONObject.stringToValue( "0.2" ) instanceof BigDecimal );
         assertTrue( "Doubles should be BigDecimal, even when incorrectly converting floats!",
                 JSONObject.stringToValue( new Double( "0.2f" ).toString() ) instanceof BigDecimal );
@@ -2521,8 +2522,8 @@ public void jsonObjectOptBigDecimal() {
         
         assertEquals(new BigDecimal("123"),jo.optBigDecimal("int", null));
         assertEquals(new BigDecimal("654"),jo.optBigDecimal("long", null));
-        assertEquals(new BigDecimal(1.234f),jo.optBigDecimal("float", null));
-        assertEquals(new BigDecimal(2.345d),jo.optBigDecimal("double", null));
+        assertEquals(new BigDecimal("1.234"),jo.optBigDecimal("float", null));
+        assertEquals(new BigDecimal("2.345"),jo.optBigDecimal("double", null));
         assertEquals(new BigDecimal("1234"),jo.optBigDecimal("bigInteger", null));
         assertEquals(new BigDecimal("1234.56789"),jo.optBigDecimal("bigDecimal", null));
         assertNull(jo.optBigDecimal("nullVal", null));