diff --git a/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSON.java b/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSON.java
index a93de93d501..b19842084b0 100644
--- a/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSON.java
+++ b/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSON.java
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.BufferUtil;
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.Index;
@@ -62,6 +64,8 @@ import org.eclipse.jetty.util.ajax.JSON.Convertor;
  * </pre>
  * <p>Class {@code com.acme.Person} must either implement {@link Convertible},
  * or be mapped with a {@link Convertor} via {@link Factory#putConvertor(String, Convertor)}.</p>
+ * <p>JSON arrays are by default represented with a {@code List<Object>}, but the
+ * Java representation can be customized via {@link Factory#setArrayConverter(Function)}.</p>
  */
 public class AsyncJSON
 {
@@ -75,8 +79,31 @@ public class AsyncJSON
     {
         private Index.Mutable<CachedString> cache;
         private Map<String, Convertor> convertors;
+        private Function<List<?>, Object> arrayConverter = list -> list;
         private boolean detailedParseException;
 
+        /**
+         * @return the function to customize the Java representation of JSON arrays
+         * @see #setArrayConverter(Function)
+         */
+        public Function<List<?>, Object> getArrayConverter()
+        {
+            return arrayConverter;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * <p>Sets the function to convert JSON arrays from their default Java
+         * representation, a {@code List<Object>}, to another Java data structure
+         * such as an {@code Object[]}.</p>
+         *
+         * @param arrayConverter the function to customize the Java representation of JSON arrays
+         * @see #getArrayConverter()
+         */
+        public void setArrayConverter(Function<List<?>, Object> arrayConverter)
+        {
+            this.arrayConverter = Objects.requireNonNull(arrayConverter);
+        }
+
         /**
          * @return whether a parse failure should report the whole JSON string or just the last chunk
          */
@@ -870,9 +897,10 @@ public class AsyncJSON
                 case ']':
                 {
                     buffer.get();
-                    Object array = stack.peek().value;
+                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+                    List<Object> array = (List<Object>)stack.peek().value;
                     stack.pop();
-                    stack.peek().value(array);
+                    stack.peek().value(convertArray(array));
                     return true;
                 }
                 case ',':
@@ -1067,6 +1095,11 @@ public class AsyncJSON
         return true;
     }
 
+    private Object convertArray(List<?> array)
+    {
+        return factory.getArrayConverter().apply(array);
+    }
+
     private Object convertObject(Map<String, Object> object)
     {
         Object result = convertObject("x-class", object);
diff --git a/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/JSON.java b/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/JSON.java
index 6407c8f3d9b..719745c2736 100644
--- a/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/JSON.java
+++ b/jetty-util-ajax/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/JSON.java
@@ -19,11 +19,14 @@ import java.io.Reader;
 import java.lang.reflect.Array;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.Loader;
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.TypeUtil;
@@ -81,6 +84,7 @@ public class JSON
 
     private final Map<String, Convertor> _convertors = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
     private int _stringBufferSize = 1024;
+    private Function<List<?>, Object> _arrayConverter = List::toArray;
 
     /**
      * @return the initial stringBuffer size to use when creating JSON strings
@@ -461,7 +465,9 @@ public class JSON
      *
      * @param size the size of the array
      * @return a new array representing the JSON array
+     * @deprecated use {@link #setArrayConverter(Function)} instead.
      */
+    @Deprecated
     protected Object[] newArray(int size)
     {
         return new Object[size];
@@ -601,6 +607,28 @@ public class JSON
         return _convertors.get(name);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @return the function to customize the Java representation of JSON arrays
+     * @see #setArrayConverter(Function)
+     */
+    public Function<List<?>, Object> getArrayConverter()
+    {
+        return _arrayConverter;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * <p>Sets the function to convert JSON arrays from their default Java
+     * representation, a {@code List<Object>}, to another Java data structure
+     * such as an {@code Object[]}.</p>
+     *
+     * @param arrayConverter the function to customize the Java representation of JSON arrays
+     * @see #getArrayConverter()
+     */
+    public void setArrayConverter(Function<List<?>, Object> arrayConverter)
+    {
+        _arrayConverter = Objects.requireNonNull(arrayConverter);
+    }
+
     /**
      * <p>Parses the given JSON source into an object.</p>
      * <p>Although the JSON specification does not allow comments (of any kind)
@@ -928,14 +956,16 @@ public class JSON
                     switch (size)
                     {
                         case 0:
-                            return newArray(0);
+                            list = Collections.emptyList();
+                            break;
                         case 1:
-                            Object array = newArray(1);
-                            Array.set(array, 0, item);
-                            return array;
+                            list = Collections.singletonList(item);
+                            break;
                         default:
-                            return list.toArray(newArray(list.size()));
+                            break;
                     }
+                    return getArrayConverter().apply(list);
+
                 case ',':
                     if (comma)
                         throw new IllegalStateException();
@@ -970,6 +1000,7 @@ public class JSON
                             item = null;
                         }
                     }
+                    break;
             }
         }
 
@@ -1199,7 +1230,7 @@ public class JSON
                     break doubleLoop;
             }
         }
-        return Double.parseDouble(buffer.toString());
+        return Double.valueOf(buffer.toString());
     }
 
     protected void seekTo(char seek, Source source)
@@ -1585,7 +1616,7 @@ public class JSON
      */
     public static class Literal implements Generator
     {
-        private String _json;
+        private final String _json;
 
         /**
          * Constructs a literal JSON instance.
diff --git a/jetty-util-ajax/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSONTest.java b/jetty-util-ajax/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSONTest.java
index b9a2f82ac5d..2c8c8ebbdcc 100644
--- a/jetty-util-ajax/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSONTest.java
+++ b/jetty-util-ajax/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/ajax/AsyncJSONTest.java
@@ -19,15 +19,19 @@ import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
 
 import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertSame;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
@@ -520,4 +524,47 @@ public class AsyncJSONTest
             assertSame(foo, item);
         }
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testArrayConverter()
+    {
+        // Test root arrays.
+        testArrayConverter("[1]", Function.identity());
+
+        // Test non-root arrays.
+        testArrayConverter("{\"array\": [1]}", object ->
+        {
+            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+            Map<String, Object> map = (Map<String, Object>)object;
+            return map.get("array");
+        });
+    }
+
+    private void testArrayConverter(String json, Function<Object, Object> extractor)
+    {
+        AsyncJSON.Factory factory = new AsyncJSON.Factory();
+        AsyncJSON async = factory.newAsyncJSON();
+        JSON sync = new JSON();
+
+        async.parse(UTF_8.encode(json));
+        Object result = extractor.apply(async.complete());
+        // AsyncJSON historically defaults to list.
+        assertThat(result, Matchers.instanceOf(List.class));
+        // JSON historically defaults to array.
+        result = extractor.apply(sync.parse(new JSON.StringSource(json)));
+        assertNotNull(result);
+        assertTrue(result.getClass().isArray(), json + " -> " + result);
+
+        // Configure AsyncJSON to return arrays.
+        factory.setArrayConverter(List::toArray);
+        async.parse(UTF_8.encode(json));
+        result = extractor.apply(async.complete());
+        assertNotNull(result);
+        assertTrue(result.getClass().isArray(), json + " -> " + result);
+
+        // Configure JSON to return lists.
+        sync.setArrayConverter(list -> list);
+        result = extractor.apply(sync.parse(new JSON.StringSource(json)));
+        assertThat(result, Matchers.instanceOf(List.class));
+    }
 }