diff --git a/patch.go b/patch.go
index 16bcbf6..26f50f5 100644
--- a/patch.go
+++ b/patch.go
@@ -225,17 +225,14 @@ func equalValue(x, y Value) bool {
 	//	* It fails to precisely compare integers beyond ±2⁵³.
 	//	* It cannot handle values greater than ±math.MaxFloat64.
 	//	* Comparison of objects with duplicate names has undefined behavior.
-	unmarshal := func(v Value) (vi interface{}) {
+	unmarshal := func(v Value) (vi interface{}, ok bool) {
 		v = v.Clone()
 		v.Standardize()
-		if json.Unmarshal(v.Pack(), &vi) != nil {
-			return nil
-		}
-		return vi
+		return vi, json.Unmarshal(v.Pack(), &vi) == nil
 	}
-	vx := unmarshal(x)
-	vy := unmarshal(y)
-	return reflect.DeepEqual(vx, vy) && vx != nil && vy != nil
+	vx, okx := unmarshal(x)
+	vy, oky := unmarshal(y)
+	return okx && oky && reflect.DeepEqual(vx, vy)
 }
 
 func (obj *Object) getAt(i int) ValueTrimmed {
diff --git a/patch_test.go b/patch_test.go
index 4808d6b..122e44d 100644
--- a/patch_test.go
+++ b/patch_test.go
@@ -179,6 +179,14 @@ var testdataPatch = []struct {
 	in:      `{"fizz":["buzz","wuzz"],"fizzy":"wizzy"}`,
 	patch:   `[{ "op": "test", "path": "/noexist", "value": null }]`,
 	wantErr: errors.New(`hujson: patch operation 0: value not found`),
+}, {
+	in:    `{"a":null}`,
+	patch: `[{ "op": "test", "path": "/a", "value": null }]`,
+	want:  `{"a":null}`,
+}, {
+	in:      `{"a":null}`,
+	patch:   `[{ "op": "test", "path": "/a", "value": 0 }]`,
+	wantErr: errors.New(`hujson: patch operation 0: values differ at "/a"`),
 }, {
 	in:      `{}`,
 	patch:   `[{`,