diff --git a/lib/msgr/client.rb b/lib/msgr/client.rb
index 1d23607..96237bf 100644
--- a/lib/msgr/client.rb
+++ b/lib/msgr/client.rb
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ def release
 
     def sync_publish(payload, opts)
       begin
-        payload = MultiJson.dump(payload)
+        payload = JSON.dump(payload)
         opts[:content_type] ||= 'application/json'
       rescue
         opts[:content_type] ||= 'application/text'
diff --git a/lib/msgr/connection.rb b/lib/msgr/connection.rb
index 3cd0109..47c91ca 100644
--- a/lib/msgr/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/msgr/connection.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 require 'bunny'
-require 'multi_json'
 
 module Msgr
   # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
diff --git a/lib/msgr/message.rb b/lib/msgr/message.rb
index 4c267e5..83a5fb7 100644
--- a/lib/msgr/message.rb
+++ b/lib/msgr/message.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def initialize(channel, delivery_info, metadata, payload, route)
 
       # rubocop:disable Style/GuardClause
       if content_type == 'application/json'
-        @payload = MultiJson.load(payload)
+        @payload = JSON.parse(payload)
         @payload.symbolize_keys! if @payload.respond_to? :symbolize_keys!
       end
     end
diff --git a/msgr.gemspec b/msgr.gemspec
index 74303e0..424e4e6 100644
--- a/msgr.gemspec
+++ b/msgr.gemspec
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
 
   spec.add_dependency 'activesupport'
   spec.add_dependency 'bunny', '>= 1.4', '< 3.0'
-  spec.add_dependency 'multi_json'
 
   spec.add_development_dependency 'bundler'