diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index ce406f26..6b6f1b0f 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ linters:
     - govet
     - ineffassign
     - misspell
-    - nakedret
     - nestif
     - noctx
     - nolintlint
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5269a2ca..733953d7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## master (unreleased)
 
+- feat: support json configs ([#489](https://github.com/evilmartians/lefthook/pull/489)) by @mrexox
+
 ## 1.4.1 (2024-05-22)
 
 - fix: add win32 binary to artifacts (by @mrexox)
diff --git a/internal/config/load_test.go b/internal/config/load_test.go
index e4f560f1..1fc14c1b 100644
--- a/internal/config/load_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/load_test.go
@@ -466,4 +466,79 @@ pre-push:
 			}
 		})
 	}
+
+	for i, tt := range [...]struct {
+		name       string
+		yaml, json string
+		result     *Config
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "simple configs",
+			yaml: `
+pre-commit:
+  commands:
+    echo:
+      run: echo 1
+`,
+			json: `
+{
+  "pre-commit": {
+    "commands": {
+      "echo": { "run": "echo 1" }
+    }
+  }
+}`,
+			result: &Config{
+				SourceDir:      DefaultSourceDir,
+				SourceDirLocal: DefaultSourceDirLocal,
+				Hooks: map[string]*Hook{
+					"pre-commit": {
+						Commands: map[string]*Command{
+							"echo": {
+								Run: "echo 1",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	} {
+		fs := afero.Afero{Fs: afero.NewMemMapFs()}
+		repo := &git.Repository{
+			Fs:       fs,
+			RootPath: root,
+			InfoPath: filepath.Join(root, ".git", "info"),
+		}
+
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%d: %s", i, tt.name), func(t *testing.T) {
+			yamlConfig := filepath.Join(root, "lefthook.yml")
+			if err := fs.WriteFile(yamlConfig, []byte(tt.yaml), 0o644); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %s", err)
+			}
+
+			checkConfig, err := Load(fs.Fs, repo)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("should parse configs without errors: %s", err)
+			} else if !cmp.Equal(checkConfig, tt.result, cmpopts.IgnoreUnexported(Hook{})) {
+				t.Errorf("configs should be equal")
+				t.Errorf("(-want +got):\n%s", cmp.Diff(tt.result, checkConfig))
+			}
+
+			if err = fs.Remove(yamlConfig); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %s", err)
+			}
+
+			if err = fs.WriteFile(filepath.Join(root, "lefthook.json"), []byte(tt.json), 0o644); err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error: %s", err)
+			}
+
+			checkConfig, err = Load(fs.Fs, repo)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("should parse configs without errors: %s", err)
+			} else if !cmp.Equal(checkConfig, tt.result, cmpopts.IgnoreUnexported(Hook{})) {
+				t.Errorf("configs should be equal")
+				t.Errorf("(-want +got):\n%s", cmp.Diff(tt.result, checkConfig))
+			}
+		})
+	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/lefthook/install.go b/internal/lefthook/install.go
index 88d828c0..d48772d2 100644
--- a/internal/lefthook/install.go
+++ b/internal/lefthook/install.go
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@ import (
 	"bufio"
 	"crypto/md5"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/gobwas/glob"
 	"github.com/spf13/afero"
 
 	"github.com/evilmartians/lefthook/internal/config"
@@ -21,12 +24,15 @@ const (
 	configFileMode   = 0o666
 	checksumFileMode = 0o644
 	hooksDirMode     = 0o755
-	configGlob       = "lefthook.y*ml"
 	timestampBase    = 10
 	timestampBitsize = 64
 )
 
-var lefthookChecksumRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(\w+)\s+(\d+)`)
+var (
+	lefthookChecksumRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`(\w+)\s+(\d+)`)
+	configGlob             = glob.MustCompile("lefthook.{json,yaml,yml}")
+	errNoConfig            = fmt.Errorf("no lefthook config found")
+)
 
 type InstallArgs struct {
 	Force, Aggressive bool
@@ -69,7 +75,6 @@ func (l *Lefthook) readOrCreateConfig() (*config.Config, error) {
 
 	if !l.configExists(l.repo.RootPath) {
 		log.Info("Config not found, creating...")
-
 		if err := l.createConfig(l.repo.RootPath); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -79,13 +84,13 @@ func (l *Lefthook) readOrCreateConfig() (*config.Config, error) {
 }
 
 func (l *Lefthook) configExists(path string) bool {
-	paths, err := afero.Glob(l.Fs, filepath.Join(path, configGlob))
+	paths, err := afero.ReadDir(l.Fs, path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	for _, config := range paths {
-		if ok, _ := afero.Exists(l.Fs, config); ok {
+	for _, file := range paths {
+		if ok := configGlob.Match(file.Name()); ok {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
@@ -199,27 +204,46 @@ func (l *Lefthook) hooksSynchronized() bool {
 }
 
 func (l *Lefthook) configLastUpdateTimestamp() (timestamp int64, err error) {
-	m, err := afero.Glob(l.Fs, filepath.Join(l.repo.RootPath, configGlob))
+	paths, err := afero.ReadDir(l.Fs, l.repo.RootPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
+	var config os.FileInfo
+	for _, file := range paths {
+		if ok := configGlob.Match(file.Name()); ok {
+			config = file
+			break
+		}
+	}
 
-	info, err := l.Fs.Stat(m[0])
-	if err != nil {
+	if config == nil {
+		err = errNoConfig
 		return
 	}
 
-	timestamp = info.ModTime().Unix()
+	timestamp = config.ModTime().Unix()
 	return
 }
 
 func (l *Lefthook) configChecksum() (checksum string, err error) {
-	m, err := afero.Glob(l.Fs, filepath.Join(l.repo.RootPath, configGlob))
+	paths, err := afero.ReadDir(l.Fs, l.repo.RootPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 
-	file, err := l.Fs.Open(m[0])
+	var config string
+	for _, file := range paths {
+		if ok := configGlob.Match(file.Name()); ok {
+			config = file.Name()
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if len(config) == 0 {
+		err = errNoConfig
+		return
+	}
+
+	file, err := l.Fs.Open(filepath.Join(l.repo.RootPath, config))
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}