diff --git a/include/nlohmann/detail/input/lexer.hpp b/include/nlohmann/detail/input/lexer.hpp
index 98cc1b696..0219fb8d1 100644
--- a/include/nlohmann/detail/input/lexer.hpp
+++ b/include/nlohmann/detail/input/lexer.hpp
@@ -1185,12 +1185,46 @@ scan_number_done:
 
     token_type scan()
     {
+#ifndef JSON_STRIP_COMMENTS
         // read next character and ignore whitespace
         do
         {
             get();
         }
         while (current == ' ' or current == '\t' or current == '\n' or current == '\r');
+#else
+        // skip white space and comments if comment stripping enabled
+        while(true) {
+          // first skip any whitespace
+          do {
+            get();
+          }
+          while (current == ' ' || current == '\t' || current == '\n' || current == '\r');
+
+          // next, skip any comment
+          if(current == '/') {
+            get();
+            // really a comment?
+            if (current == '/') {
+              // skip to the end of line/file
+              do {
+                get();
+              } while (! (current == '\n' ||
+                          current == '\r' ||
+                          current == std::char_traits<char>::eof()));
+            }
+            else {
+              // not a comment, leave it up to the rest of the code to deal with the '/'
+              unget();
+              break;
+            }
+          }
+          else {
+            // not a comment at all, break out of the loop
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+#endif
 
         switch (current)
         {