diff --git a/spacy/gold.pyx b/spacy/gold.pyx
index 8bdd42a83..69e256167 100644
--- a/spacy/gold.pyx
+++ b/spacy/gold.pyx
@@ -346,12 +346,12 @@ def _json_iterate(loc):
     cdef char close_curly = ord('}')
     for i in range(len(py_raw)):
         c = raw[i]
-        if c == backslash:
-            escape = True
-            continue
         if escape:
             escape = False
             continue
+        if c == backslash:
+            escape = True
+            continue
         if c == quote:
             inside_string = not inside_string
             continue