diff --git a/proxy/src/serverless/json.rs b/proxy/src/serverless/json.rs
index fb24d3d3aa..77ee2496c0 100644
--- a/proxy/src/serverless/json.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/serverless/json.rs
@@ -1,30 +1,40 @@
+use itertools::Itertools;
+use serde_json::value::RawValue;
 use serde_json::Map;
 use serde_json::Value;
 use tokio_postgres::types::Kind;
 use tokio_postgres::types::Type;
 use tokio_postgres::Row;
+use typed_json::json;
+
+use super::json_raw_value::LazyValue;
 
 //
 // Convert json non-string types to strings, so that they can be passed to Postgres
 // as parameters.
 //
-pub(crate) fn json_to_pg_text(json: Vec<Value>) -> Vec<Option<String>> {
-    json.into_iter().map(json_value_to_pg_text).collect()
+pub(crate) fn json_to_pg_text(
+    json: Vec<&RawValue>,
+) -> Result<Vec<Option<String>>, serde_json::Error> {
+    json.into_iter().map(json_value_to_pg_text).try_collect()
 }
 
-fn json_value_to_pg_text(value: Value) -> Option<String> {
+fn json_value_to_pg_text(value: &RawValue) -> Result<Option<String>, serde_json::Error> {
+    let value = serde_json::from_str(value.get())?;
     match value {
         // special care for nulls
-        Value::Null => None,
+        LazyValue::Null => Ok(None),
 
         // convert to text with escaping
-        v @ (Value::Bool(_) | Value::Number(_) | Value::Object(_)) => Some(v.to_string()),
+        v @ (LazyValue::Bool(_) | LazyValue::Number(_) | LazyValue::Object(_)) => {
+            Ok(Some(v.to_string()))
+        }
 
         // avoid escaping here, as we pass this as a parameter
-        Value::String(s) => Some(s),
+        LazyValue::String(s) => Ok(Some(s.into_owned())),
 
         // special care for arrays
-        Value::Array(arr) => Some(json_array_to_pg_array(arr)),
+        LazyValue::Array(arr) => Ok(Some(json_array_to_pg_array(arr)?)),
     }
 }
 
@@ -36,7 +46,7 @@ fn json_value_to_pg_text(value: Value) -> Option<String> {
 //
 // Example of the same escaping in node-postgres: packages/pg/lib/utils.js
 //
-fn json_array_to_pg_array(arr: Vec<Value>) -> String {
+fn json_array_to_pg_array(arr: Vec<&RawValue>) ->  Result<String, serde_json::Error> {
     let mut output = String::new();
     let mut first = true;
 
@@ -48,27 +58,30 @@ fn json_array_to_pg_array(arr: Vec<Value>) -> String {
         }
         first = false;
 
-        let value = json_array_to_pg_array_inner(value);
+        let value = json_array_to_pg_array_inner(value)?;
         output.push_str(value.as_deref().unwrap_or("NULL"));
     }
 
     output.push('}');
 
-    output
+    Ok(output)
 }
 
-fn json_array_to_pg_array_inner(value: Value) -> Option<String> {
+fn json_array_to_pg_array_inner(value: &RawValue) -> Result<Option<String>, serde_json::Error> {
+    let value = serde_json::from_str(value.get())?;
     match value {
         // special care for nulls
-        Value::Null => None,
+        LazyValue::Null => Ok(None),
 
         // convert to text with escaping
         // here string needs to be escaped, as it is part of the array
-        v @ (Value::Bool(_) | Value::Number(_) | Value::String(_)) => Some(v.to_string()),
-        v @ Value::Object(_) => json_array_to_pg_array_inner(Value::String(v.to_string())),
+        v @ (LazyValue::Bool(_) | LazyValue::Number(_) | LazyValue::String(_)) => {
+            Ok(Some(v.to_string()))
+        }
+        v @ LazyValue::Object(_) => Ok(Some(json!(v.to_string()).to_string())),
 
         // recurse into array
-        Value::Array(arr) => Some(json_array_to_pg_array(arr)),
+        LazyValue::Array(arr) => Ok(Some(json_array_to_pg_array(arr)?)),
     }
 }
 
@@ -271,8 +284,10 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use serde_json::json;
 
-    fn json_to_pg_text_test(json: Vec<Value>) -> Vec<Option<String>> {
-        json_to_pg_text(json)
+    fn json_to_pg_text_test(json: Vec<serde_json::Value>) -> Vec<Option<String>> {
+        let json = serde_json::Value::Array(json).to_string();
+        let json: Vec<&RawValue> = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
+        json_to_pg_text(json).unwrap()
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/proxy/src/serverless/json_raw_value.rs b/proxy/src/serverless/json_raw_value.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79caa706bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proxy/src/serverless/json_raw_value.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+//! [`serde_json::Value`] but uses RawValue internally
+//!
+//! This code forks from the serde_json code, but replaces internal Value with RawValue where possible.
+//!
+//! Taken from <https://github.com/serde-rs/json/blob/faab2e8d2fcf781a3f77f329df836ffb3aaacfba/src/value/de.rs>
+//! Licensed from serde-rs under MIT or APACHE-2.0, with modifications by Conrad Ludgate
+
+use core::fmt;
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+
+use indexmap::IndexMap;
+use serde::{
+    de::{MapAccess, SeqAccess, Visitor},
+    Deserialize, Serialize,
+};
+use serde_json::{value::RawValue, Number};
+
+pub enum LazyValue<'de> {
+    Null,
+    Bool(bool),
+    Number(Number),
+    String(Cow<'de, str>),
+    Array(Vec<&'de RawValue>),
+    Object(IndexMap<String, &'de RawValue>),
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for LazyValue<'de> {
+    #[inline]
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        struct ValueVisitor;
+
+        impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for ValueVisitor {
+            type Value = LazyValue<'de>;
+
+            fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+                formatter.write_str("any valid JSON value")
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_bool<E>(self, value: bool) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(LazyValue::Bool(value))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_i64<E>(self, value: i64) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(LazyValue::Number(value.into()))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_u64<E>(self, value: u64) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(LazyValue::Number(value.into()))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_f64<E>(self, value: f64) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(Number::from_f64(value).map_or(LazyValue::Null, LazyValue::Number))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_str<E>(self, value: &str) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E>
+            where
+                E: serde::de::Error,
+            {
+                self.visit_string(String::from(value))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_borrowed_str<E>(self, value: &'de str) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E>
+            where
+                E: serde::de::Error,
+            {
+                Ok(LazyValue::String(Cow::Borrowed(value)))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_string<E>(self, value: String) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(LazyValue::String(Cow::Owned(value)))
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_none<E>(self) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(LazyValue::Null)
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_some<D>(self, deserializer: D) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, D::Error>
+            where
+                D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+            {
+                Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_unit<E>(self) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, E> {
+                Ok(LazyValue::Null)
+            }
+
+            #[inline]
+            fn visit_seq<V>(self, mut visitor: V) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, V::Error>
+            where
+                V: SeqAccess<'de>,
+            {
+                let mut vec = Vec::new();
+
+                while let Some(elem) = visitor.next_element()? {
+                    vec.push(elem);
+                }
+
+                Ok(LazyValue::Array(vec))
+            }
+
+            fn visit_map<V>(self, mut visitor: V) -> Result<LazyValue<'de>, V::Error>
+            where
+                V: MapAccess<'de>,
+            {
+                let mut values = IndexMap::new();
+
+                while let Some((key, value)) = visitor.next_entry()? {
+                    values.insert(key, value);
+                }
+
+                Ok(LazyValue::Object(values))
+            }
+        }
+
+        deserializer.deserialize_any(ValueVisitor)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Serialize for LazyValue<'_> {
+    #[inline]
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: ::serde::Serializer,
+    {
+        match self {
+            LazyValue::Null => serializer.serialize_unit(),
+            LazyValue::Bool(b) => serializer.serialize_bool(*b),
+            LazyValue::Number(n) => n.serialize(serializer),
+            LazyValue::String(s) => serializer.serialize_str(s),
+            LazyValue::Array(v) => v.serialize(serializer),
+            LazyValue::Object(m) => {
+                use serde::ser::SerializeMap;
+                let mut map = serializer.serialize_map(Some(m.len()))?;
+                for (k, v) in m {
+                    map.serialize_entry(k, v)?;
+                }
+                map.end()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[allow(clippy::to_string_trait_impl)]
+impl ToString for LazyValue<'_> {
+    fn to_string(&self) -> String {
+        serde_json::to_string(self).expect("json encoding a LazyValue should never error")
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::borrow::Cow;
+
+    use typed_json::json;
+
+    use super::LazyValue;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn object() {
+        let json = json! {{
+            "foo": {
+                "bar": 1
+            },
+            "baz": [2, 3],
+        }}
+        .to_string();
+
+        let lazy: LazyValue = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
+
+        let LazyValue::Object(object) = lazy else {
+            panic!("expected object")
+        };
+        assert_eq!(object.len(), 2);
+
+        assert_eq!(object["foo"].get(), r#"{"bar":1}"#);
+        assert_eq!(object["baz"].get(), r#"[2,3]"#);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn array() {
+        let json = json! {[
+            {
+                "bar": 1
+            },
+            [2, 3],
+        ]}
+        .to_string();
+
+        let lazy: LazyValue = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
+
+        let LazyValue::Array(array) = lazy else {
+            panic!("expected array")
+        };
+        assert_eq!(array.len(), 2);
+
+        assert_eq!(array[0].get(), r#"{"bar":1}"#);
+        assert_eq!(array[1].get(), r#"[2,3]"#);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn string() {
+        let json = json! { "hello world" }.to_string();
+
+        let lazy: LazyValue = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
+
+        let LazyValue::String(Cow::Borrowed(string)) = lazy else {
+            panic!("expected borrowed string")
+        };
+        assert_eq!(string, "hello world");
+
+        let json = json! { "hello \n world" }.to_string();
+
+        let lazy: LazyValue = serde_json::from_str(&json).unwrap();
+
+        let LazyValue::String(Cow::Owned(string)) = lazy else {
+            panic!("expected owned string")
+        };
+        assert_eq!(string, "hello \n world");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/proxy/src/serverless/mod.rs b/proxy/src/serverless/mod.rs
index 95f64e972c..e7aa8decfa 100644
--- a/proxy/src/serverless/mod.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/serverless/mod.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ mod conn_pool;
 mod http_conn_pool;
 mod http_util;
 mod json;
+mod json_raw_value;
 mod local_conn_pool;
 mod sql_over_http;
 mod websocket;
diff --git a/proxy/src/serverless/sql_over_http.rs b/proxy/src/serverless/sql_over_http.rs
index cf3324926c..f02f70fd9a 100644
--- a/proxy/src/serverless/sql_over_http.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/serverless/sql_over_http.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use hyper::StatusCode;
 use hyper::{HeaderMap, Request};
 use pq_proto::StartupMessageParamsBuilder;
 use serde::Serialize;
-use serde_json::Value;
+use serde_json::value::RawValue;
 use tokio::time;
 use tokio_postgres::error::DbError;
 use tokio_postgres::error::ErrorPosition;
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ where
     D: serde::de::Deserializer<'de>,
 {
     // TODO: consider avoiding the allocation here.
-    let json: Vec<Value> = serde::de::Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
-    Ok(json_to_pg_text(json))
+    let json: Vec<&RawValue> = serde::de::Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    json_to_pg_text(json).map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]