diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2927455c8..518820087 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ BUG FIXES:
       Windows [GH-963]
   * provisioner/ansible: set cwd to staging directory [GH-1016]
   * provisioners/chef-client: Don't chown directory with Ubuntu. [GH-939]
+  * provisioners/chef-solo: Deeply nested JSON works properly. [GH-1076]
   * provisioners/shell: Env var values can have equal signs. [GH-1045]
   * provisioners/shell: chmod the uploaded script file to 0777. [GH-994]
   * post-processor/docker-push: Allow repositories with ports. [GH-923]
diff --git a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
index 0d95a0ec5..0295546cd 100644
--- a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
+++ b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner.go
@@ -203,12 +203,24 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Process the user variables within the JSON and set the JSON.
-	// Do this early so that we can validate and show errors.
-	p.config.Json, err = p.processJsonUserVars()
-	if err != nil {
-		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(
-			errs, fmt.Errorf("Error processing user variables in JSON: %s", err))
+	jsonValid := true
+	for k, v := range p.config.Json {
+		p.config.Json[k], err = p.deepJsonFix(k, v)
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(
+				errs, fmt.Errorf("Error processing JSON: %s", err))
+			jsonValid = false
+		}
+	}
+
+	if jsonValid {
+		// Process the user variables within the JSON and set the JSON.
+		// Do this early so that we can validate and show errors.
+		p.config.Json, err = p.processJsonUserVars()
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(
+				errs, fmt.Errorf("Error processing user variables in JSON: %s", err))
+		}
 	}
 
 	if errs != nil && len(errs.Errors) > 0 {
@@ -470,6 +482,57 @@ func (p *Provisioner) installChef(ui packer.Ui, comm packer.Communicator) error
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (p *Provisioner) deepJsonFix(key string, current interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
+	if current == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	switch c := current.(type) {
+	case []interface{}:
+		val := make([]interface{}, len(c))
+		for i, v := range c {
+			var err error
+			val[i], err = p.deepJsonFix(fmt.Sprintf("%s[%d]", key, i), v)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+
+		return val, nil
+	case bool:
+		return c, nil
+	case int:
+		return c, nil
+	case uint:
+		return c, nil
+	case float32:
+		return c, nil
+	case float64:
+		return c, nil
+	case map[interface{}]interface{}:
+		val := make(map[string]interface{})
+		for k, v := range c {
+			ks, ok := k.(string)
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: key is not string", key)
+			}
+
+			var err error
+			val[ks], err = p.deepJsonFix(
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s", key, ks), v)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+
+		return val, nil
+	case string:
+		return c, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unknown type for key: '%s'", key)
+	}
+}
+
 func (p *Provisioner) processJsonUserVars() (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 	jsonBytes, err := json.Marshal(p.config.Json)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
index f7094103e..35fdb915a 100644
--- a/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
+++ b/provisioner/chef-solo/provisioner_test.go
@@ -262,3 +262,33 @@ func TestProvisionerPrepare_json(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", p.config.Json)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestProvisionerPrepare_jsonNested(t *testing.T) {
+	config := testConfig()
+	config["json"] = map[string]interface{}{
+		"foo": map[interface{}]interface{}{
+			"bar": "baz",
+		},
+
+		"bar": []interface{}{
+			"foo",
+
+			map[interface{}]interface{}{
+				"bar": "baz",
+			},
+		},
+
+		"bFalse": false,
+		"bTrue": true,
+		"bNil": nil,
+
+		"bInt": 1,
+		"bFloat": 4.5,
+	}
+
+	var p Provisioner
+	err := p.Prepare(config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}