diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index 40ad65881..a55c4e90c 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@
         "vector": "cpp",
         "memory_resource": "cpp",
         "cfenv": "cpp",
-        "cinttypes": "cpp"
+        "cinttypes": "cpp",
+        "filesystem": "cpp",
+        "forward_list": "cpp",
+        "regex": "cpp",
+        "valarray": "cpp",
+        "ranges": "cpp"
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/common/JoyMap.cxx b/src/common/JoyMap.cxx
index a49c1be4d..10905f71a 100644
--- a/src/common/JoyMap.cxx
+++ b/src/common/JoyMap.cxx
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "JoyMap.hxx"
 #include "jsonDefinitions.hxx"
+#include "Logger.hxx"
 
 using json = nlohmann::json;
 
@@ -209,6 +210,31 @@ json JoyMap::saveMapping(const EventMode mode) const
 }
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+int JoyMap::loadMapping(const json& eventMappings, const EventMode mode)
+{
+  int i = 0;
+
+  for (const json& eventMapping: eventMappings) {
+    try {
+      add(
+        eventMapping.at("event").get<Event::Type>(),
+        mode,
+        eventMapping.at("button").get<int>(),
+        eventMapping.at("axis").get<JoyAxis>(),
+        eventMapping.at("axisDirection").get<JoyDir>(),
+        eventMapping.at("hat").get<int>(),
+        eventMapping.at("hatDirection").get<JoyHatDir>()
+      );
+
+      i++;
+    } catch (json::exception) {
+      Logger::error("ignoring invalid joystick event");
+    }
+  }
+
+  return i;
+}
+#if 0
 int JoyMap::loadMapping(string& list, const EventMode mode)
 {
   // Since istringstream swallows whitespace, we have to make the
@@ -226,6 +252,7 @@ int JoyMap::loadMapping(string& list, const EventMode mode)
 
   return i;
 }
+#endif
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 void JoyMap::eraseMode(const EventMode mode)
diff --git a/src/common/JoyMap.hxx b/src/common/JoyMap.hxx
index b480aad1b..d013e82bc 100644
--- a/src/common/JoyMap.hxx
+++ b/src/common/JoyMap.hxx
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class JoyMap
     JoyMappingArray getEventMapping(const Event::Type event, const EventMode mode) const;
 
     nlohmann::json saveMapping(const EventMode mode) const;
-    int loadMapping(string& list, const EventMode mode);
+    int loadMapping(const nlohmann::json& eventMappings, const EventMode mode);
 
     /** Erase all mappings for given mode */
     void eraseMode(const EventMode mode);
diff --git a/src/common/PJoystickHandler.cxx b/src/common/PJoystickHandler.cxx
index 2deeaf111..590fcda44 100644
--- a/src/common/PJoystickHandler.cxx
+++ b/src/common/PJoystickHandler.cxx
@@ -22,13 +22,12 @@
 #include "Settings.hxx"
 #include "EventHandler.hxx"
 #include "PJoystickHandler.hxx"
+#include "Logger.hxx"
 
 #ifdef GUI_SUPPORT
   #include "DialogContainer.hxx"
 #endif
 
-static constexpr char CTRL_DELIM = '^';
-
 using json = nlohmann::json;
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
@@ -37,25 +36,29 @@ PhysicalJoystickHandler::PhysicalJoystickHandler(
   : myOSystem(system),
     myHandler(handler)
 {
-  Int32 version = myOSystem.settings().getInt("event_ver");
-  // Load previously saved joystick mapping (if any) from settings
-  istringstream buf(myOSystem.settings().getString("joymap"));
-  string joymap, joyname;
+  if(myOSystem.settings().getInt("event_ver") != Event::VERSION) {
+    Logger::info("event version mismatch; dropping previous joystick mappings");
 
-  // First compare if event list version has changed, and disregard the entire
-  // mapping if true
-  getline(buf, joymap, CTRL_DELIM); // event list size, ignore
-  if(version == Event::VERSION)
-  {
-    // Otherwise, put each joystick mapping entry into the database
-    while(getline(buf, joymap, CTRL_DELIM))
-    {
-      istringstream namebuf(joymap);
-      getline(namebuf, joyname, PhysicalJoystick::MODE_DELIM);
-      if(joyname.length() != 0)
-        // TODO: convert old mapping to json
-        myDatabase.emplace(joyname, StickInfo());
+    return;
+  }
+
+  json mappings;
+
+  try {
+    mappings = json::parse(myOSystem.settings().getString("joymap"));
+  } catch (json::exception) {
+    // TODO: error handling + migration
+
+    mappings = json::array();
+  }
+
+  for (const json& mapping: mappings) {
+    if (!mapping.contains("name")) {
+      Logger::error("igmoring bad joystick mapping");
+      continue;
     }
+
+    myDatabase.emplace(mapping.at("name").get<string>(), StickInfo(mapping));
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.cxx b/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.cxx
index dc45d4a10..67abd435e 100644
--- a/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.cxx
+++ b/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.cxx
@@ -23,14 +23,21 @@
 #include "bspf.hxx"
 #include "PhysicalJoystick.hxx"
 #include "jsonDefinitions.hxx"
+#include "Logger.hxx"
 
 using json = nlohmann::json;
 
 namespace {
   string jsonName(EventMode eventMode) {
-    json serializedName = eventMode;
+    return json(eventMode).get<string>();
+  }
 
-    return serializedName.get<string>();
+  EventMode eventModeFromJsonName(const string& name) {
+    EventMode result;
+
+    from_json(json(name), result);
+
+    return result;
   }
 }
 
@@ -71,6 +78,35 @@ json PhysicalJoystick::getMap() const
 }
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+bool PhysicalJoystick::setMap(const json& map)
+{
+  int i = 0;
+
+  for (auto& entry: map.items()) {
+    if (entry.key() == "name") continue;
+
+    try {
+      joyMap.loadMapping(entry.value(), eventModeFromJsonName(entry.key()));
+    } catch (json::exception) {
+      Logger::error("ignoring invalid json mapping for " + entry.key());
+    }
+
+    i++;
+  }
+
+  if(i != 5)
+  {
+    Logger::error("invalid controller mappings found for " +
+      ((map.contains("name") && map.at("name").is_string()) ? ("stick " + map["name"].get<string>()) : "unknown stick")
+    );
+
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return true;
+}
+
+#if 0
 bool PhysicalJoystick::setMap(const string& mapString)
 {
   istringstream buf(mapString);
@@ -104,6 +140,7 @@ bool PhysicalJoystick::setMap(const string& mapString)
 
   return true;
 }
+#endif
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 void PhysicalJoystick::eraseMap(EventMode mode)
diff --git a/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.hxx b/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.hxx
index 1c331e0e8..027aba47f 100644
--- a/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.hxx
+++ b/src/common/PhysicalJoystick.hxx
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class PhysicalJoystick
     PhysicalJoystick() = default;
 
     nlohmann::json getMap() const;
-    bool setMap(const string& map);
+    bool setMap(const nlohmann::json& map);
     void eraseMap(EventMode mode);
     void eraseEvent(Event::Type event, EventMode mode);
     string about() const;