diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONML.java b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONML.java
index 6ec997061..937d7cfcf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONML.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONML.java
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  */
 public class JSONML {
 
+    private static final String CHILD_NODES = "childNodes";
+
     /**
      * Constructs a new JSONML object.
      * @deprecated (Utility class cannot be instantiated)
@@ -205,7 +207,7 @@ private static Object parse(
 // attribute = value
 
                         attribute = (String)token;
-                        if (!arrayForm && ("tagName".equals(attribute) || "childNode".equals(attribute))) {
+                        if (!arrayForm && ("tagName".equals(attribute) || CHILD_NODES.equals(attribute))) {
                             throw x.syntaxError("Reserved attribute.");
                         }
                         token = x.nextToken();
@@ -256,7 +258,7 @@ private static Object parse(
                             }
                             tagName = null;
                             if (!arrayForm && newja.length() > 0) {
-                                newjo.put("childNodes", newja);
+                                newjo.put(CHILD_NODES, newja);
                             }
                             if (ja == null) {
                                 if (arrayForm) {
@@ -648,7 +650,7 @@ public static String toString(JSONObject jo) throws JSONException {
 
         // Don't use the new entrySet API to maintain Android support
         for (final String key : jo.keySet()) {
-            if (!"tagName".equals(key) && !"childNodes".equals(key)) {
+            if (!"tagName".equals(key) && !CHILD_NODES.equals(key)) {
                 XML.noSpace(key);
                 value = jo.opt(key);
                 if (value != null) {
@@ -664,7 +666,7 @@ public static String toString(JSONObject jo) throws JSONException {
 
 //Emit content in body
 
-        ja = jo.optJSONArray("childNodes");
+        ja = jo.optJSONArray(CHILD_NODES);
         if (ja == null) {
             sb.append('/');
             sb.append('>');
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONMLTest.java b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONMLTest.java
index 93a6821d8..c83f73e24 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONMLTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONMLTest.java
@@ -1052,4 +1052,61 @@ public void testValidXMLToJSONObjectStillWorks() {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Tests that the childNodes attribute is reserved in object-form parsing.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testToJSONObjectRejectsReservedChildNodesAttribute() {
+        String xmlStr = "<p childNodes=\"metadata\">text</p>";
+        for (boolean keepStrings : new boolean[] {false, true}) {
+            JSONException exception = assertThrows(JSONException.class,
+                () -> JSONML.toJSONObject(xmlStr, keepStrings));
+            assertTrue(exception.getMessage().startsWith("Reserved attribute."));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests that the ordinary childNode attribute is preserved in object-form parsing.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testToJSONObjectPreservesChildNodeAttribute() {
+        String xmlStr = "<p childNode=\"metadata\">text</p>";
+        for (boolean keepStrings : new boolean[] {false, true}) {
+            JSONObject jsonObject = JSONML.toJSONObject(xmlStr, keepStrings);
+            assertEquals("p", jsonObject.getString("tagName"));
+            assertEquals("metadata", jsonObject.getString("childNode"));
+            assertEquals("text", jsonObject.getJSONArray("childNodes").getString(0));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests that the tagName attribute remains reserved in object-form parsing.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testToJSONObjectRejectsReservedTagNameAttribute() {
+        String xmlStr = "<p tagName=\"metadata\">text</p>";
+        for (boolean keepStrings : new boolean[] {false, true}) {
+            JSONException exception = assertThrows(JSONException.class,
+                () -> JSONML.toJSONObject(xmlStr, keepStrings));
+            assertTrue(exception.getMessage().startsWith("Reserved attribute."));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests that childNode and childNodes attributes are preserved in array-form parsing.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testToJSONArrayPreservesChildNodeAttributes() {
+        String xmlStr = "<p childNode=\"singular\" childNodes=\"plural\">text</p>";
+        for (boolean keepStrings : new boolean[] {false, true}) {
+            JSONArray jsonArray = JSONML.toJSONArray(xmlStr, keepStrings);
+            assertEquals(3, jsonArray.length());
+            assertEquals("p", jsonArray.getString(0));
+            JSONObject attributes = jsonArray.getJSONObject(1);
+            assertEquals("singular", attributes.getString("childNode"));
+            assertEquals("plural", attributes.getString("childNodes"));
+            assertEquals("text", jsonArray.getString(2));
+        }
+    }
+
 }