diff --git a/tests/misc/test_commands.py b/tests/misc/test_commands.py
index c6c57cfa11..33b97265cc 100644
--- a/tests/misc/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/misc/test_commands.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def test_clean_auth_tokens_revoked(self):
                     },
                     "revoked": False,
                 }
-            ).encode("utf-8"),
+            ),
         )
         self.store.add(
             "testkey2",
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def test_clean_auth_tokens_revoked(self):
                     },
                     "revoked": True,
                 }
-            ).encode("utf-8"),
+            ),
         )
         self.assertEqual(len(self.store.keys()), 2)
         commands.clean_auth_tokens()
diff --git a/zou/app/blueprints/auth/resources.py b/zou/app/blueprints/auth/resources.py
index 00799a0de5..b7587eac4f 100644
--- a/zou/app/blueprints/auth/resources.py
+++ b/zou/app/blueprints/auth/resources.py
@@ -83,9 +83,7 @@ def wrong_auth_handler(identity_user=None):
 
 @identity_loaded.connect_via(app)
 def on_identity_loaded(sender, identity):
-    if identity.id is not None:
-        from zou.app.services import persons_service
-
+    if isinstance(identity.id, str):
         try:
             identity.user = persons_service.get_person(identity.id)
 
diff --git a/zou/app/config.py b/zou/app/config.py
index d818dea4ef..3f47cb152c 100644
--- a/zou/app/config.py
+++ b/zou/app/config.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 from zou.app.utils.env import envtobool, env_with_semicolon_to_list
 
 PROPAGATE_EXCEPTIONS = True
-RESTFUL_JSON = {"ensure_ascii": False}
 DEBUG = envtobool("DEBUG", False)
 DEBUG_PORT = int(os.getenv("DEBUG_PORT", 5000))
 
diff --git a/zou/app/utils/api.py b/zou/app/utils/api.py
index e7bc9d0e3e..f4369f1196 100644
--- a/zou/app/utils/api.py
+++ b/zou/app/utils/api.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-from flask_restful import Api, output_json
+from flask_restful import Api
+from zou.app.utils.flask import output_json
 
 
 def configure_api_from_blueprint(blueprint, route_tuples):
@@ -13,7 +14,6 @@ def configure_api_from_blueprint(blueprint, route_tuples):
     api = Api(blueprint, catch_all_404s=True)
 
     api.representations = {
-        "application/json; charset=utf-8": output_json,
         "application/json": output_json,
     }
 
diff --git a/zou/app/utils/flask.py b/zou/app/utils/flask.py
index 88f75a5313..9088b55b23 100644
--- a/zou/app/utils/flask.py
+++ b/zou/app/utils/flask.py
@@ -2,8 +2,28 @@
 from werkzeug.user_agent import UserAgent
 from werkzeug.utils import cached_property
 from flask.json.provider import JSONProvider
+from flask import current_app, make_response
 import orjson
 
+orjson_options = orjson.OPT_NON_STR_KEYS
+
+
+def output_json(data, code, headers=None):
+    """Makes a Flask response with a JSON encoded body"""
+
+    # If we're in debug mode, and the indent is not set, we set it to a
+    # reasonable value here.  Note that this won't override any existing value
+    # that was set.
+    option = orjson_options
+    if current_app.debug:
+        option |= orjson.OPT_INDENT_2
+
+    dumped = orjson.dumps(data, option=option)
+
+    resp = make_response(dumped, code)
+    resp.headers.extend(headers or {})
+    return resp
+
 
 class ORJSONProvider(JSONProvider):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -14,8 +34,7 @@ def loads(self, s, **kwargs):
         return orjson.loads(s)
 
     def dumps(self, obj, **kwargs):
-        # decode back to str, as orjson returns bytes
-        return orjson.dumps(obj, option=orjson.OPT_NON_STR_KEYS)
+        return orjson.dumps(obj, option=orjson_options)
 
 
 class ParsedUserAgent(UserAgent):