diff --git a/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/Configurable.php b/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/Configurable.php
index 5cd8b6a7d0b95..4d5243c37dda8 100644
--- a/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/Configurable.php
+++ b/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/Configurable.php
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@
 use Magento\ConfigurableProduct\Helper\Product\Options\Factory;
 use Magento\ConfigurableProduct\Model\Product\Type\Configurable as ConfigurableProduct;
 use Magento\ConfigurableProduct\Model\Product\VariationHandler;
+use Magento\Framework\App\ObjectManager;
 use Magento\Framework\App\RequestInterface;
+use Magento\Framework\Serialize\Serializer\Json as JsonSerializer;
 
 /**
  * Class Configurable
@@ -37,6 +39,11 @@ class Configurable
      */
     private $optionsFactory;
 
+    /**
+     * @var JsonSerializer
+     */
+    private $serializer;
+
     /**
      * @var array
      */
@@ -64,11 +71,13 @@ class Configurable
     public function __construct(
         VariationHandler $variationHandler,
         RequestInterface $request,
-        Factory $optionsFactory
+        Factory $optionsFactory,
+        JsonSerializer $serializer = null
     ) {
         $this->variationHandler = $variationHandler;
         $this->request = $request;
         $this->optionsFactory = $optionsFactory;
+        $this->serializer = $serializer ?: ObjectManager::getInstance()->get(JsonSerializer::class);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -99,9 +108,9 @@ public function afterInitialize(Helper $subject, ProductInterface $product)
         $product->setNewVariationsAttributeSetId($setId);
 
         $configurableOptions = [];
-        if (!empty($productData['configurable_attributes_data'])) {
+        if (!empty($productData['configurable_attributes_data_serialized'])) {
             $configurableOptions = $this->optionsFactory->create(
-                (array) $productData['configurable_attributes_data']
+                $this->serializer->unserialize($productData['configurable_attributes_data_serialized'])
             );
         }
 
@@ -128,8 +137,8 @@ public function afterInitialize(Helper $subject, ProductInterface $product)
     private function setLinkedProducts(ProductInterface $product, ProductExtensionInterface $extensionAttributes)
     {
         $associatedProductIds = $this->request->getPost('associated_product_ids_serialized', '[]');
-        if ($associatedProductIds != null && !empty($associatedProductIds)) {
-            $associatedProductIds = json_decode($associatedProductIds, true);
+        if (!empty($associatedProductIds)) {
+            $associatedProductIds = $this->serializer->unserialize($associatedProductIds);
         }
 
         $variationsMatrix = $this->getVariationMatrix();
@@ -155,7 +164,7 @@ protected function getVariationMatrix()
         $result = [];
         $configurableMatrix = $this->request->getParam('configurable-matrix-serialized', "[]");
         if (isset($configurableMatrix) && $configurableMatrix != "") {
-            $configurableMatrix = json_decode($configurableMatrix, true);
+            $configurableMatrix = $this->serializer->unserialize($configurableMatrix);
 
             foreach ($configurableMatrix as $item) {
                 if ($item['newProduct']) {
diff --git a/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Test/Unit/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/ConfigurableTest.php b/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Test/Unit/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/ConfigurableTest.php
index 90306de598895..21f3aa4c3261f 100644
--- a/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Test/Unit/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/ConfigurableTest.php
+++ b/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/Test/Unit/Controller/Adminhtml/Product/Initialization/Helper/Plugin/ConfigurableTest.php
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 use Magento\ConfigurableProduct\Model\Product\VariationHandler;
 use Magento\ConfigurableProduct\Test\Unit\Model\Product\ProductExtensionAttributes;
 use Magento\Framework\App\Request\Http;
+use Magento\Framework\Serialize\Serializer\Json as JsonSerializer;
+use Magento\Framework\TestFramework\Unit\Helper\ObjectManager as ObjectManagerHelper;
 use PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject as MockObject;
 
 /**
@@ -50,6 +52,16 @@ class ConfigurableTest extends \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
      */
     private $plugin;
 
+    /**
+     * @var JsonSerializer
+     */
+    private $serializer;
+
+    /**
+     * @var ObjectManagerHelper
+     */
+    private $objectManagerHelper;
+
     /**
      * @inheritdoc
      */
@@ -87,6 +99,9 @@ protected function setUp()
             $this->request,
             $this->optionFactory
         );
+
+        $this->objectManagerHelper = new ObjectManagerHelper($this);
+        $this->serializer = $this->objectManagerHelper->getObject(JsonSerializer::class);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -102,7 +117,7 @@ public function testAfterInitializeWithAttributesAndVariations()
         $valueMap = [
             ['new-variations-attribute-set-id', null, 24],
             ['associated_product_ids_serialized', '[]', []],
-            ['product', [], ['configurable_attributes_data' => $attributes]],
+            ['product', [], ['configurable_attributes_data_serialized' => $this->serializer->serialize($attributes)]],
         ];
         $simpleProductsIds = [1, 2, 3];
         $simpleProducts = [
@@ -150,7 +165,7 @@ public function testAfterInitializeWithAttributesAndVariations()
             ]
         ];
         $paramValueMap = [
-            ['configurable-matrix-serialized', "[]", json_encode($simpleProducts)],
+            ['configurable-matrix-serialized', "[]", $this->serializer->serialize($simpleProducts)],
             ['attributes', null, $attributes],
         ];
 
@@ -213,7 +228,7 @@ public function testAfterInitializeWithAttributesAndWithoutVariations()
         $valueMap = [
             ['new-variations-attribute-set-id', null, 24],
             ['associated_product_ids_serialized', "[]", "[]"],
-            ['product', [], ['configurable_attributes_data' => $attributes]],
+            ['product', [], ['configurable_attributes_data_serialized' => $this->serializer->serialize($attributes)]],
         ];
         $paramValueMap = [
             ['configurable-matrix-serialized', "[]", "[]"],
diff --git a/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/view/adminhtml/web/js/variations/variations.js b/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/view/adminhtml/web/js/variations/variations.js
index e2e0faec3b805..c88401d838270 100644
--- a/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/view/adminhtml/web/js/variations/variations.js
+++ b/app/code/Magento/ConfigurableProduct/view/adminhtml/web/js/variations/variations.js
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ define([
         this.message = message;
         this.name = 'UserException';
     }
+
     UserException.prototype = Object.create(Error.prototype);
 
     return Component.extend({
@@ -193,12 +194,12 @@ define([
 
             _.each(variations, function (variation) {
                 var attributes = _.reduce(variation.options, function (memo, option) {
-                    var attribute = {};
+                        var attribute = {};
 
-                    attribute[option['attribute_code']] = option.value;
+                        attribute[option['attribute_code']] = option.value;
 
-                    return _.extend(memo, attribute);
-                }, {}),
+                        return _.extend(memo, attribute);
+                    }, {}),
                     gallery = {
                         images: {}
                     },
@@ -418,6 +419,12 @@ define([
                     JSON.stringify(this.source.data['associated_product_ids']);
                 delete this.source.data['associated_product_ids'];
             }
+
+            if (this.source.data.product['configurable_attributes_data']) {
+                this.source.data.product['configurable_attributes_data_serialized'] =
+                    JSON.stringify(this.source.data.product['configurable_attributes_data']);
+                delete this.source.data.product['configurable_attributes_data'];
+            }
         },
 
         /**