diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b48d27b7..8a6862c5 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ $ free | jc --free -p
     "used": "213104",
     "free": "1148452",
     "shared": "1176",
-    "buff/cache": "655744",
+    "buff_cache": "655744",
     "available": "1622204"
   },
   {
diff --git a/jc/parsers/free.py b/jc/parsers/free.py
index fb206746..9f24c5a9 100644
--- a/jc/parsers/free.py
+++ b/jc/parsers/free.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ $ free | jc --free -p
     "used": "213104",
     "free": "1148452",
     "shared": "1176",
-    "buff/cache": "655744",
+    "buff_cache": "655744",
     "available": "1622204"
   },
   {
@@ -33,9 +33,12 @@ def parse(data):
 
     cleandata = data.splitlines()
     headers = [h for h in ' '.join(cleandata[0].strip().split()).split() if h]
-
     headers.insert(0, "type")
 
+    # clean up 'buff/cache' header
+    # even though forward slash in a key is valid json, it can make things difficult
+    headers = ['buff_cache' if x == 'buff/cache' else x for x in headers]
+
     raw_data = map(lambda s: s.strip().split(None, len(headers) - 1), cleandata[1:])
     output = [dict(zip(headers, r)) for r in raw_data]