--- b/ExpandTemplateGenerator/ExpandTemplate.lua
+++ a/ExpandTemplateGenerator/ExpandTemplate.lua
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@
       else  -- expression
         var = 'return '.. var
       end
+      local f = assert(loadstring(var))
-      local f = assert(load(var))
       local t = searchlist[1]
       assert(type(t)=='table' or type(t)=='userdata', 'expecting table')
       setfenv(f, setmetatable({}, {__index=get, __newindex=t}))
--- b/ExpandTemplateGenerator/JSONQuery.lua
+++ a/ExpandTemplateGenerator/JSONQuery.lua
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 
 for i=2,#arg do
     json_path=arg[i]
+    cmd = loadstring("return json_table."..json_path)
-    cmd = load("return json_table."..json_path)
     if not cmd then
         io.stderr:write("Warning: bad path -> "..json_path.."\n")
         bad_count = bad_count+1
--- b/ExpandTemplateGenerator/json.lua
+++ a/ExpandTemplateGenerator/json.lua
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@
     endPos = endPos + 1
   end
   local stringValue = 'return ' .. string.sub(s,startPos, endPos-1)
+  local stringEval = base.loadstring(stringValue)
-  local stringEval = load(stringValue)
   base.assert(stringEval, 'Failed to scan number [ ' .. stringValue .. '] in JSON string at position ' .. startPos .. ' : ' .. endPos)
   return stringEval(), endPos
 end
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@
     base.assert(endPos <= stringLen+1, "String decoding failed: unterminated string at position " .. endPos)
   until bEnded
   local stringValue = 'return ' .. string.sub(s, startPos, endPos-1)
+  local stringEval = base.loadstring(stringValue)
-  local stringEval = load(stringValue)
   base.assert(stringEval, 'Failed to load string [ ' .. stringValue .. '] in JSON4Lua.decode_scanString at position ' .. startPos .. ' : ' .. endPos)
   return stringEval(), endPos
 end