diff --git a/src/fields/formfields/Recipients.php b/src/fields/formfields/Recipients.php
index d10bfe9e7..a36f763ff 100644
--- a/src/fields/formfields/Recipients.php
+++ b/src/fields/formfields/Recipients.php
@@ -43,6 +43,15 @@ public static function getSvgIconPath(): string
         return 'formie/_formfields/recipients/icon.svg';
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns whether a string value looks like a JSON object or array.
+     * TODO: Remove this when bumping to 3.5+
+     */
+    public static function isJsonObject(string $str): bool
+    {
+        return (bool)preg_match('/^(?:\{.*\}|\[.*\])$/s', $str);
+    }
+
 
     // Public Methods
     // =========================================================================
@@ -69,7 +78,7 @@ public function getIsFieldset(): bool
     public function normalizeValue($value, ElementInterface $element = null)
     {
         // Sort out multiple options being set
-        if (is_string($value) && Json::isJsonObject($value)) {
+        if (is_string($value) && self::isJsonObject($value)) {
             $value = implode(',', array_filter(Json::decode($value)));
         }
 
@@ -281,7 +290,7 @@ private function _getRealValue($value)
             $value = StringHelper::decdec($value);
 
             // Check if this was an array of data
-            if (is_string($value) && Json::isJsonObject($value)) {
+            if (is_string($value) && self::isJsonObject($value)) {
                 $value = implode(',', array_filter(Json::decode($value)));
             }
         }