diff --git a/cast_test.go b/cast_test.go
index 2282098..a0bd9e0 100644
--- a/cast_test.go
+++ b/cast_test.go
@@ -719,6 +719,8 @@ func TestToStringSliceE(t *testing.T) {
 		expect []string
 		iserr  bool
 	}{
+		{`["a", "b"]`, []string{"a", "b"}, false},
+		{"a b", []string{"a", "b"}, false},
 		{[]int{1, 2}, []string{"1", "2"}, false},
 		{[]int8{int8(1), int8(2)}, []string{"1", "2"}, false},
 		{[]int32{int32(1), int32(2)}, []string{"1", "2"}, false},
diff --git a/caste.go b/caste.go
index 4181a2e..0ac82c1 100644
--- a/caste.go
+++ b/caste.go
@@ -1309,6 +1309,9 @@ func ToStringSliceE(i interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 		}
 		return a, nil
 	case string:
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(v), &a); err == nil {
+			return a, nil
+		}
 		return strings.Fields(v), nil
 	case []error:
 		for _, err := range i.([]error) {