diff --git a/shotgun_api3/lib/mockgun/mockgun.py b/shotgun_api3/lib/mockgun/mockgun.py
index 18e4a142..45d0b2aa 100644
--- a/shotgun_api3/lib/mockgun/mockgun.py
+++ b/shotgun_api3/lib/mockgun/mockgun.py
@@ -177,7 +177,6 @@ def __init__(self,
                  api_key=None,
                  convert_datetimes_to_utc=True,
                  http_proxy=None,
-                 ensure_ascii=True,
                  connect=True,
                  ca_certs=None,
                  login=None,
diff --git a/shotgun_api3/shotgun.py b/shotgun_api3/shotgun.py
index 49c4d120..652bd234 100644
--- a/shotgun_api3/shotgun.py
+++ b/shotgun_api3/shotgun.py
@@ -491,7 +491,6 @@ def __init__(
         api_key=None,
         convert_datetimes_to_utc=True,
         http_proxy=None,
-        ensure_ascii=True,
         connect=True,
         ca_certs=None,
         login=None,
@@ -709,9 +708,6 @@ def __init__(
                 {self.config.scheme: proxy_addr}
             )
 
-        if ensure_ascii:
-            self._json_loads = self._json_loads_ascii
-
         self.client_caps = ClientCapabilities()
         # this relies on self.client_caps being set first
         self.reset_user_agent()
@@ -3982,35 +3978,6 @@ def _decode_response(self, headers, body):
     def _json_loads(self, body):
         return json.loads(body)
 
-    def _json_loads_ascii(self, body):
-        """
-        See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/956867
-        """
-
-        def _decode_list(lst):
-            newlist = []
-            for i in lst:
-                if isinstance(i, str):
-                    i = sgutils.ensure_str(i)
-                elif isinstance(i, list):
-                    i = _decode_list(i)
-                newlist.append(i)
-            return newlist
-
-        def _decode_dict(dct):
-            newdict = {}
-            for k, v in dct.items():
-                if isinstance(k, str):
-                    k = sgutils.ensure_str(k)
-                if isinstance(v, str):
-                    v = sgutils.ensure_str(v)
-                elif isinstance(v, list):
-                    v = _decode_list(v)
-                newdict[k] = v
-            return newdict
-
-        return json.loads(body, object_hook=_decode_dict)
-
     def _response_errors(self, sg_response):
         """
         Raise any API errors specified in the response.
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index e7e046d2..0302dfe0 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import uuid
 import warnings
 
-from shotgun_api3.lib import six
 from shotgun_api3.lib.httplib2 import Http
 
 import shotgun_api3
@@ -828,28 +827,24 @@ def test_summary_values(self):
             sorted(result["groups"], key=lambda x: x["group_name"]), groups
         )
 
-    def test_ensure_ascii(self):
-        """test_ensure_ascii tests ensure_unicode flag."""
-        sg_ascii = shotgun_api3.Shotgun(
-            self.config.server_url, ensure_ascii=True, **self.auth_args
-        )
+    def test_json_dumps_default_ensure_ascii_disabled(self):
+        """Make sure SG'payload is using ensure_ascii for json dumps"""
+        sg = shotgun_api3.Shotgun(self.config.server_url, **self.auth_args)
 
-        result = sg_ascii.find_one(
-            "Note", [["id", "is", self.note["id"]]], fields=["content"]
-        )
-        if six.PY2:
-            # In Python3 there isn't a separate unicode type.
-            self.assertFalse(_has_unicode(result))
+        # Mock the _http_request method
+        sg._orig_http_request = sg._http_request
+        sg._http_request = unittest.mock.Mock(wraps=sg._orig_http_request)
 
-    def test_ensure_unicode(self):
-        """test_ensure_unicode tests ensure_unicode flag."""
-        sg_unicode = shotgun_api3.Shotgun(
-            self.config.server_url, ensure_ascii=False, **self.auth_args
+        sg.find_one(
+            "Note",
+            [["content", "is", "Noëlご"]],  # Force a non-ascii character
         )
-        result = sg_unicode.find_one(
-            "Note", [["id", "is", self.note["id"]]], fields=["content"]
+
+        sg._http_request.assert_called_once()
+        self.assertIn(
+            b"No\xc3\xabl\xe3\x81\x94",  # utf-8 encoded version of Noëlご
+            sg._http_request.call_args.args[2],  # Get the body of the request
         )
-        self.assertTrue(_has_unicode(result))
 
     def test_work_schedule(self):
         """test_work_schedule tests WorkDayRules api"""
@@ -3443,15 +3438,6 @@ def test_import_httplib(self):
         self.assertTrue(hasattr(socks, "HTTPError"))
 
 
-def _has_unicode(data):
-    for k, v in data.items():
-        if isinstance(k, str):
-            return True
-        if isinstance(v, str):
-            return True
-    return False
-
-
 def _get_path(url):
     """Returns path component of a url without the sheme, host, query, anchor, or any other
     additional elements.
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index d9c66ae1..249203db 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -656,7 +656,6 @@ def _assert_decode_resonse(self, ensure_ascii, data):
             self.config.script_name,
             self.config.api_key,
             http_proxy=self.config.http_proxy,
-            ensure_ascii=ensure_ascii,
             connect=False,
         )