diff --git a/gallery_dl/__init__.py b/gallery_dl/__init__.py
index 8b5702fb..45b815ec 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/__init__.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ def parse_option(opt):
         key, value = opt.split("=", 1)
         try:
             value = json.loads(value)
-        except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
+        except ValueError:
             pass
         config.set(key.split("."), value)
     except ValueError:
diff --git a/gallery_dl/config.py b/gallery_dl/config.py
index 3f712047..538d6810 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/config.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/config.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def load(*files, strict=False):
             if strict:
                 raise
             continue
-        except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as exception:
+        except ValueError as exception:
             print("Error while loading '", path, "':", sep="", file=sys.stderr)
             print(exception, file=sys.stderr)