diff --git a/anki/mpv.py b/anki/mpv.py
index 872444051..13267deb0 100644
--- a/anki/mpv.py
+++ b/anki/mpv.py
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ class MPVBase:
         """Return a json representation from a message dictionary.
         """
         # XXX may be strict is too strict ;-)
-        data = json.dumps(message, separators=",:")
+        data = json.dumps(message)
         return data.encode("utf8", "strict") + b"\n"
 
     def _parse_message(self, data):