diff --git a/claim_strings.go b/claim_strings.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..24c801c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/claim_strings.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package jwt
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"reflect"
+)
+
+// ClaimStrings is used for parsing claim properties that
+// can be either a string or array of strings
+type ClaimStrings []string
+
+// UnmarshalJSON implements the json package's Unmarshaler interface
+func (c *ClaimStrings) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
+	var value interface{}
+	err := json.Unmarshal(data, &value)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	switch v := value.(type) {
+	case string:
+		*c = ClaimStrings{v}
+	case []interface{}:
+		result := make(ClaimStrings, 0, len(v))
+		for i, vv := range v {
+			if x, ok := vv.(string); ok {
+				result = append(result, x)
+			} else {
+				return &json.UnsupportedTypeError{Type: reflect.TypeOf(v[i])}
+			}
+		}
+		*c = result
+	case nil:
+	default:
+		return &json.UnsupportedTypeError{Type: reflect.TypeOf(v)}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/claim_strings_test.go b/claim_strings_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2673bd39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/claim_strings_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package jwt_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/dgrijalva/jwt-go/v4"
+)
+
+var claimStringsTestData = []struct {
+	name   string
+	input  interface{}
+	output jwt.ClaimStrings
+	err    error
+}{
+	{
+		name:   "null",
+		input:  nil,
+		output: nil,
+	},
+	{
+		name:   "single",
+		input:  "foo",
+		output: jwt.ClaimStrings{"foo"},
+	},
+	{
+		name:   "multi",
+		input:  []string{"foo", "bar"},
+		output: jwt.ClaimStrings{"foo", "bar"},
+	},
+	{
+		name:   "invalid",
+		input:  float64(42),
+		output: nil,
+		err:    &json.UnsupportedTypeError{Type: reflect.TypeOf(float64(42))},
+	},
+	{
+		name:   "invalid multi",
+		input:  []interface{}{"foo", float64(42)},
+		output: nil,
+		err:    &json.UnsupportedTypeError{Type: reflect.TypeOf(float64(42))},
+	},
+}
+
+func TestClaimStrings(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range claimStringsTestData {
+		var r *struct {
+			Value jwt.ClaimStrings `json:"value"`
+		}
+		data, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]interface{}{"value": test.input})
+		err := json.Unmarshal(data, &r)
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(err, test.err) {
+			t.Errorf("[%v] Error didn't match expectation: %v != %v", test.name, test.err, err)
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(test.output, r.Value) {
+			t.Errorf("[%v] Unmarshaled value didn't match expectation: %v != %v", test.name, test.output, r.Value)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/claims.go b/claims.go
index 45918d8e..e5316b97 100644
--- a/claims.go
+++ b/claims.go
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ type Claims interface {
 // https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7519#section-4.1
 // See examples for how to use this with your own claim types
 type StandardClaims struct {
-	Audience  string `json:"aud,omitempty"`
-	ExpiresAt int64  `json:"exp,omitempty"`
-	ID        string `json:"jti,omitempty"`
-	IssuedAt  int64  `json:"iat,omitempty"`
-	Issuer    string `json:"iss,omitempty"`
-	NotBefore int64  `json:"nbf,omitempty"`
-	Subject   string `json:"sub,omitempty"`
+	Audience  ClaimStrings `json:"aud,omitempty"`
+	ExpiresAt int64        `json:"exp,omitempty"`
+	ID        string       `json:"jti,omitempty"`
+	IssuedAt  int64        `json:"iat,omitempty"`
+	Issuer    string       `json:"iss,omitempty"`
+	NotBefore int64        `json:"nbf,omitempty"`
+	Subject   string       `json:"sub,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Valid implements Valid from Claims
@@ -94,12 +94,14 @@ func (c *StandardClaims) VerifyNotBefore(cmp int64, req bool) bool {
 
 // ----- helpers
 
-func verifyAud(aud string, cmp string, required bool) bool {
-	if aud == "" {
+func verifyAud(aud ClaimStrings, cmp string, required bool) bool {
+	if len(aud) == 0 {
 		return !required
 	}
-	if subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(aud), []byte(cmp)) != 0 {
-		return true
+	for _, audStr := range aud {
+		if subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(audStr), []byte(cmp)) != 0 {
+			return true
+		}
 	}
 	return false
 }
diff --git a/map_claims.go b/map_claims.go
index 7187a1f6..d0fdf7aa 100644
--- a/map_claims.go
+++ b/map_claims.go
@@ -13,8 +13,19 @@ type MapClaims map[string]interface{}
 // Compares the aud claim against cmp.
 // If required is false, this method will return true if the value matches or is unset
 func (m MapClaims) VerifyAudience(cmp string, req bool) bool {
-	aud, _ := m["aud"].(string)
-	return verifyAud(aud, cmp, req)
+	aud, ok := m["aud"]
+	if !ok {
+		return !req
+	}
+
+	switch v := aud.(type) {
+	case string:
+		return verifyAud(ClaimStrings{v}, cmp, req)
+	case []string:
+		return verifyAud(ClaimStrings(v), cmp, req)
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
 }
 
 // Compares the exp claim against cmp.